Be Careful What You Wish For
by WILLSONN LOVER
Summary: This is an AU Story where Will and Sonny Never got back together after Sonny found out that Will is Arianna's father. Sonny moved on with Brian. Will has dated some but is alone. Sonny and Will are finally friends again, and Sonny wishes that Will had someone too. Then Paul comes to town intent on getting Sonny back, but soon meets Will, and falls head over heels for him.
1. Chapter 1

Sonny watched Will walk out the door of the club shaking his head. He turned back to the bar and picked up the damp cloth to wipe the bar down. He though back over the long twisted road they had travelled together. There had been a time when he had thought that he and Will would never be able to have a conversation again without his heart breaking into a million pieces, but he was read glad they were able to put all the bad behind them and at least regain their friendship. Despite all that had gone wrong in their relationship, Sonny knew Will was a good man and he was happy to have him in his life, in any capacity.

"Hey handsome… Whatcha thinking about?" Brian asked as he dropped onto a stool at the bar.

Sonny was startled out of his musings. "Hey!" he said leaning across the bar and accepting Brian's kiss. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just headed over to the hospital for clinical and I wanted to stop by and see you since we missed each other this morning." Brian answered.

"I'm glad you did." Sonny answered honestly.

"Was that Will I just saw leaving?" Brian asked.

"Yeah he stopped by between classes for coffee." Sonny answered.

"Just coffee?" Brian asked casually. "Or to see you and get coffee?"

"Don't start that again…" Sonny groaned. "There is no need for all this suspicion, Will and I are friends and there is nothing going on between us."

"Oh, I know there isn't. I trust you." Brian said, "But I also know that Will would change that if he could."

"Well he can't, that ship sailed long ago. Will knows that and he respects that I am with you now." Sonny said, getting angry.

Brian held his hands up…. "Okay okay…" he said. "I know this is a touchy subject for you. Besides Will is seeing Neil right?" he said, changing the focus of the conversation.

"Umm no." Sonny answered. "Remember I told you weeks ago that they called it quits."

"Yeah, I remember that you said that, but they have done that before and they always go back." Brian said.

"Well, not this time… at least I don't think so. Will seems to have made up his mind to move on. You know Neil is a party-er and Will is trying to concentrate on being a good dad, especially after everything with Gabi." Sonny explained.

"Yeah I could see that putting a screeching halt to the partying days." Brian said, "Anyway I gotta go before I am late, Don't wait up for me, I don't know what time I will be home."

"Alright well have a good night at work then." Sonny said, "Love you."

"Love you more." Brian said, as he walked off.

Sonny chucked, and turned to the cash register. He gathered up all of the paperwork and receipts, and headed toward the office. "T.. I am going to work on the books, if you need anything call me."

"Sure thing boss man." T answered.

Once he was in the office with the door closed his thoughts once again turned to Will. If he was honest he had thought about Will a lot in those first few months with Brian. He had always thought that he would be the one to bring happiness and stability into Will's life. They had been so happy, then the truth had come out at Gabi's almost wedding about Will being Arianna's father. That news had driven a huge wedge between them, and it had taken months and months to even have a normal conversation that didn't turn into an argument. By the time they had worked through the hard feelings. Sonny had been with Brian for a little over a year, and he loved Brian, Maybe not as much as he had loved Will. He knew that he may not ever love anyone again the way he had loved Will, but he did love Brian. He wanted Will to be happy, even though it hurt. He wondered if seeing Will in a happy and healthy relationship was what it was going to take for him to let go of that last shred of hope that was hidden deep within his heart. Hopefully that would happen sooner, rather than later.

Finally he pushed thoughts of Will from his mind and picked up his pen. He was about halfway through the books when there was a knock on his office door. "Yes, come in." He called.

T popped his head around the door. "Boss there is someone here asking for you." He said.

"Who is it?" Sonny asked.

"Not sure." T said. "He looks vaguely familiar but I know I have never seen him around here before. But I will tell you one thing…. He is hot as hell." He said teasingly.

Sonny's eyes widened. "WOW T, you had better be careful, I may get the wrong idea about you."

"Hey!" T said. "There's no need to get excited… I don't usually pay much attention, but I am not blind."

Sonny noticed. "Fair enough." He said. "Come on, I guess we had better not keep Adonis waiting."

Sonny followed T back to the bar. But nothing could have prepared him for the person that was waiting for him at the bar.

"Paul?" He asked, watching the other man turn around.

Sonny was not prepared for the barrage of feelings that washed over him. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Hey Sonny." Paul said.

Sonny moved stiffly to hug Paul. "I haven't heard from you in a very long time."

Paul blushed. "I know… can we go somewhere to talk?" he asked when he noticed the bar tender standing there gawking at them.

Sonny glanced at T. "Oh Sure." He said. "We can talk in my office, come on." He said as he grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and two glasses. He led the way back to his office.

Sonny opened the door and waited for Paul to walk in first then he followed and closed the door behind him. Sonny went to his desk and poured them each a drink. "So how have you been?" he asked as he handed Paul a glass across the desk.

"Pretty Good…. Until recently." Paul answered.

"What do you mean?" Sonny asked.

"I threw my arm out, that's what I am doing here, I had to have surgery." Paul said. "The doctors pretty much told me that my rotator cuff is gone."

"Will you still be able to play?" Sonny asked.

Paul shook his head, "No not professionally." He said. "I can't pitch anymore."

"Oh Wow." Sonny said. "I'm really sorry to hear that."

Paul shrugged. "I was pretty torn up about it for a while." He said honestly. "But I am working through it."

"That's really great man." Sonny said. "I know how much baseball meant to you."

"Yeah, it was my whole life unfortunately." Paul said, "I gave up a lot to have the career that I have had."

"Yeah, you did." Sonny agreed, knowing instantly what Paul was talking about, or more accurately who he was talking about. "Maybe you could coach, be a pitching coach or something, it would be a shame for all of that talent to go to waste. He said.

"Maybe one day, I may consider something like that." Paul agreed. "I actually thought about being a commentator or something…. But right now I have other things on my mind." He finished as he raised his glass to his lips and swallowed some of the amber liquid. He looked at Sonny, waiting to see him reaction.

"So what brings you here, to the small town of Salem?" Sonny asked.

Paul gave him a slow sexy smile. "Well, I need a quiet place to rest and recover, and figure out what direction I want to take my life in next, and this seemed like the perfect place, especially after I found out you were here."

Sonny gave him a wry grin. "You always were a ridiculous flirt." He said nervously.

"Sonny…." Paul said leaning forward. "I am here for you, it's that simple."

Sonny took a deep breath. "Paul, that part of my life is over. I am with someone." He said holding up his hand, showing Paul his engagement ring. "Brian and I are getting married in just a couple of months."

Paul glanced at the ring, and then his eyes collided with Sonny's again. "Are you sure that's what you want?" he asked, "Because I am just not sure it is."

"Of course I am sure it is what I want." Sonny bit out. "You of all people know that I have always wanted to get married, and maybe even start a family. Don't you remember that?"

"What I remember is that you wanted to marry me… you asked me to marry you." Paul said. "Do you remember that?"

"Of course I remember." Sonny snapped. "I all but begged you to marry me, and you did what you always did, you chose baseball over me."

"Sonny, be reasonable, I was not putting baseball before you. You have to realize what it was like for me." Paul said.

Sonny stood, "No." He said, "We are not going through this same old song and dance again. You see it and chasing your dream, I see it as destroying mine. We will never agree about it, and there is no need to discuss it again. I gave you the life you wanted, I left."

"That wasn't what I wanted, and you know it." Paul argued.

"I could not live life in the closet anymore. I wanted someone that was proud of me, who loved me enough to show me off, not hide me away in a motel room." Sonny spat out. Dredging up the past was making him bitter.

"But it wouldn't be that way anymore." Paul said. "Baseball was important to me, it was my dream and my life…. But now I see what I was missing all of those years and I want another chance."

"That may be true." Sonny said. "But you only see me now because you can't play baseball anymore… not because all of the sudden you decided that you can't live without me. Don't you dare try to make this into something that it isn't."

Paul was taken aback by the anger in Sonny's voice. He realized that he may need to come at Sonny from a different angle. What he needed to do was make Sonny remember what it was like to love him."

"Just think about what I said." Paul said getting up.

"No…" Sonny said. "This conversation is OVER." He stressed.

"Fine…" Paul said, "But I am not going anywhere. So I guess I will see you around." He said as he opened the door and strolled out.

Sonny slumped back down into the chair, all of the fight going out of him as soon as Paul was out of sight. Why did he have to come back now? Just when things were starting to feel right, and what was he going to do about it?

He laid his head back against the chair…. NOTHING… he answered his own question that was what he was going to do about it. He knew that Paul could be stubborn when he wanted to, and it seemed like he was determined to take a trip down memory lane. He would just have to show him just how much he loved Brian. Then maybe he would get the hint and leave them town.

He pushed himself out of the chair and gathered his things. He strode toward the door. "T, I am leaving you stay and lock up, see you tomorrow." He said hurriedly, before walking out the door. He was not in the mood for one of T's interrogations.

"Night." T called behind him,


	2. Chapter 2

Brian held the door open for Sonny and then followed him into the pub. Sonny immediately went over to the booth in the corner and sat down. Brian followed him, looking around the see who was working. "Is Will working tonight?" he asked as he sat down in front of Sonny.

"I don't know." Sonny said. "I was just in the mood for chowder tonight."

"Okay." Brian said picking up the menu from the table. He began looking over the choices, not that he really needed to, at this point he practically knew the menu by heart.

Sonny was about to pick up his own menu when the bell above the door jingled as the door opened. He looked up and nearly groaned when Paul walked in. So far he had managed to avoid him since their talk at the club.

Brian looked up and followed his gaze. "Is that…" he began and then chuckled. "Nah, not in this small town." He muttered, dismissing his own question, turning his attention back to his menu.

He was debating between a burger and a grilled chicken sandwich when Paul walked up to the edge of the table.

"Sonny" he said. "How are you doing?"

Brian's eyes flew to Sonny's and he raised an eyebrow.

"Good." Sonny said. "Paul, this is my fiancé Brian, Brian meet Paul Narita." Sonny made the introduction that he had been dreading.

Brian immediately stood and offered his hand to Paul. "Major league pitcher, Paul Narita?" he asked.

Paul grinned the cocky grin that Sonny knew so well. "One and the same." He said, shaking Brian's proffered hand. "So nice to meet you, I have heard a lot about you."

"How's that?" Brian asked looking at Sonny expectantly.

"Paul and I have been friends for a long time. He stopped by the club last week when he got into town." Sonny answered. "We had a little time to catch up."

"I see." Brian said. "I had no idea that the two of you knew each other."

"Like I said we were friends years ago." Sonny explained, praying that Brian would just drop the subject.

"Would you like to join us?" Brian asked.

"Sure." Paul said agreeably.

Sonny scowled at Paul but he got up and moved around to sit with Brian so that Paul could take the seat across from them.

They all sat back down and the waitress came up to take their drink order. They all ordered beer and she went to get them. "So what's good here?" Paul asked, giving the menu a cursory glance.

"Basically everything, but they are famous for their clam chowder." Sonny answered.

"I will have that then." Paul said decisively, putting the menu to the side. He looked over at Brian. "So when Sonny and I talked the other day, he said you are almost done with med school. " He said making conversation.

Brian nodded. "A few more months of classes and then my residency." He said. "It has taken me along time and a lot of work, but it has always been my dream."

"Then it was worth it right?" Paul said. "Baseball was always my dream, and I worked for it, sacrificed for it… I have given up a lot for my dream, way more than I ever should have. But I did get to live my dream for a few years anyway."

"What do you mean?" Brian asked. "It sounds like you are saying that you are done with baseball."

Paul nodded, "Yeah, I threw my shoulder out, so playing is a thing of the past for me… but a really close friend pointed out to me recently that I could coach or something."

"Well with your expertise, any team would be lucky to have you." Brian said.

"Thanks man that means a lot." Paul said as the waitress appeared with their beer and took their food order.

"So what brings you to Salem." Brian asked.

Paul's eyes met Sonny's across the table as he took a minute to consider his answer.

"Well, I needed a quiet town to have my surgery, heal, and get my physical therapy behind me." Paul said, "And I knew that Sonny lived here, so I thought it may be fun for us to catch up."

"But I haven't so much as seen your name at the hospital anywhere." Brian said.

"Yeah, I have an alias there, I really didn't want the press to find me." Paul answered.

"That makes a lot of sense." Brian agreed, turning to look at Sonny. "You've been pretty quiet. Why don't you tell me how you met and befriended a major league baseball player?"

Sonny shrugged. "Uncle Vic offered me his box anytime I wanted to go to a game, and you know him, nothing but the best. The entrance to his box was on the club floor, where the player's lounge is located. One day I was there to see a game, I was in a hurry, running late, not paying attention to where I was going and I ran into Paul, recognized him and asked for a picture and an autograph." He said cutting the story short.

"And you two become close over the minute that it took to snap and picture and sign a piece of paper?" Brian asked confused. "How did you two know how to find each other?"

"He is leaving out a big chunk of the story." Paul said. "He didn't bump into me, he practically ran me over. And he was carrying what must have been the biggest drink sold anywhere in the continental United States." He said chuckling at the memory. "Anyway so he spilled the drink all over my uniform, I was soaked, and he was mortified. He bumbled his way through an apology, and it was probably the cutest thing I had ever seen in my life. I refused his apology and said that it was clearly my fault, and asked him to let me buy him another drink after the game. He accepted so I asked him to meet me at a local bar later that night. We met, and quickly became…." Paul paused and took a sip of his beer, before he finished. "friends."

"Wait…." Brian said, trying to understand. "You said you thought Sonny apologizing was the cutest thing ever…. So are you saying that you are…, I mean are you… " he stopped mid sentence and looked from Sonny to Paul.

"Yes, I am Gay." Paul answered his unspoken question.

Brian was quiet for a minute. "So are you two…. Were you… " he stopped, "I mean did you two have a uh…" he stopped again, since he couldn't seem for formulate a coherent sentence.

Sonny put his hands on Brian's arm. "Yeah, a long time ago we were." He answered.

"I see…." Brian said. "You never mentioned it to me." He accused.

"That wouldn't be his fault, it would be mine." Paul interjected. "I swore him to secrecy… in the end that was what ruined things for us."

"I don't see why we have to dredge up our past." Sonny said, "Anything that was between us was over a long time ago."

"Well." Paul said, stalling…. trying to decide how far he wanted to push things at that moment.

"I think I get it." Brian said, trying to keep his voice even. "No more need for secrecy in your life… so you are back for what you lost?" he bit out.

"Something like that." Paul agreed.

"That is not going to happen." Sonny said angrily. "I love Brian, we are getting married, there isn't room in my life for you or anyone else."

Brian stood. "Well Paul, meeting you was certainly enlightening." He sneered.

The waitress walked up with a tray laden with food. "I think we will take ours to go." Brian said in a clipped tone. She nodded and went back to the kitchen to box up the food.

Sonny scooted out of the booth, without a word for Paul and headed over to the counter to pay and wait for the food. Even though he was no longer hungry, and he was pretty sure that Brian wasn't going to eat either.

"You know I am not going to give him up without a fight." Brian said to Paul before he turned and walked out of the door.

Sonny got the food and hurried out the door, easily catching up with Brian.

Brian was silent the entire walk back to their apartment, and Sonny allowed him his space until they were inside.

"Can you just say something please?" He asked when Brian went over and sat on the couch.

"What is there to say?" Brian asked. "You didn't tell me that you knew him, you certainly never said that you dated him." Brian said. "And he's back now. How long has he been back by the way?"

"Well he had his surgery here and he has already almost completed his therapy. " Sonny answered. "So I guess a couple of months."

"So he has been here, in Salem, for a couple of months?" Brian asked. "And you two have been catching up… for a couple of months and you didn't think this was something that I needed to know?"

"No." Sonny snapped. "I only saw him once about two weeks ago."

"And why didn't you tell me then?" Brian asked.

"Because none of it matters." Sonny said sitting beside Brian on the couch, "I told him that I am with you, I told him we are getting married, that I am not interested in anyone else. I told him that I love you."

"You still should have told me." Brian accused.

"I could have." Sonny agreed, "But you already get tense and defensive when Will is around and I didn't want to add to that. Especially when there is nothing going on."

"I've never understood why you insist on being best friends with Will after all he put you through." Brian admitted.

"Will and I have been through a lot together." Sonny said. "We have a complicated past, but Will is a good guy, and he is a good friend."

"Now this major league super star shows up…" Brian said. "How am I supposed to compete with that?"

"Hey." Sonny said, taking Brian's hands, "I am with you, I am marrying you. You have me, you don't have to compete with anyone." He promised. "They are the one's competing with you."

Brian nodded. "Thanks for saying that, But I know how fiercely you loved Will…"

"I did." Sonny said, "But he broke my trust, and you helped me find myself again. I fell in love with you then, and I love you now."

"Fine." Brian said. "You're right you are with me and they don't matter, but don't expect me to be inviting them over anytime soon."

"Deal!" Sonny said wrapping his arms around Brian, pulling him close.

"I have to admit." Brian said grudgingly. "It was kind of hot to have you tell a major league baseball star to Fuck off for me."

"Yeah?" Sonny said. "How hot?"

"Let me show you." Brian said, pulling Sonny even closer, capturing Sonny's lips in a kiss.


	3. Chapter 3

"Where ya been?" Sonny asked when Will sat down on the stool in front of the bar. "I haven't seen you in over a week."

"I know." Will said. "Things have been crazy for the last couple of weeks, finals, studying, my thesis was due… " he continued. "Plus work, and taking care of Arianna. I don't know how I am ever going to juggle all of this."

"Hey!" Sonny said. "You will make it through it, I know it is hard but you have your family and they are all pitching in to take care of Arianna right?" He asked.

Will nodded. "Yeah they have been great!" he said. "Oh! And guess what else." He said excitedly.

"What?" Sonny asked, dreading the answer.

"I got a job at the Salem Chronicle." Will said. "It isn't much to start but at least I can work from home, so I can be there with Arianna more."

"And you get a byline!" Sonny said, "That's awesome man!" he said. "I will make you a congratulatory drink he said turning around.

Will was about to protest, until he saw Sonny pick up a large coffee cup and start mixing him a latte. When Sonny brought the drink back over and sat it in front of him, will nodded his thanks and then asked, "So what's new with you?" he said.

"Things are going great, Brian is about to go into his residency in a few weeks, and the club is doing well." Sonny said evasively.

"That's all cool." Will said, having no part of it. "And how are you?"

"I'm fine." Sonny said. "Just working like crazy." Sonny hedged. "What's you first assignment at the paper?" he asked, directing the conversation back to Will.

"I am going to cover the charity baseball camp that John is holding in a couple weeks." Will said. "I think they are going to have a surprise guest there, some big name star, so maybe I can get an interview from him."

Sonny groaned inwardly. "You will have fun." He said to Will. Pasting a smile on his face.

"Will, Sonny." Chad said as he came through the door. "What are you two up to?" he asked.

"Not much." Will answered. "How's it going?"

"Same old, same old." Chad said, "Just dropping in to check on my investment."

"Good" Sonny said, "Watch the bar for a few minutes, I have to run an errand."

"Sure, I guess." Chad said. "But I have a business meeting at Dimera enterprises in an hour."

Sonny nodded, "Come on Will let's take a walk."

Will scrambled off of the bar stool and gathered his things, quickly following Sonny out the door. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"Just for a walk." Sonny answered.

"Everything okay?" Will asked, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah they are good, better than they have been in a while actually." Sonny said, "Recently someone that I … knew a long time…." He began.

"Sonny… Hey!" Paul called across the square, striding right up to them and giving Sonny a 'friendly' hug, even if he did hold him close for a minute longer than would have been considered appropriate.

Sonny stepped back and took a deep breath. "Hey." He said. "Paul this is Will." He said making the introduction, not wanting to be rude. "Will, this is.."

"Paul Narita, Star pitcher for the Chicago Cubs." Will finished for him, holding his hand out. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Paul said, shaking his outstretched hand.

"What brings you to our small town" Will asked.

"That's a long story." Sonny said jumping in, trying to discourage Paul from answering the question.

"Well…" Paul said.

"Wait!" Will said excitedly. "Are you participating in the baseball camp for the under privileged kids that John Black is hosting?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes I am." Paul said, "But mostly I am here for physical therapy. You hospital here has a great program."

"Oh." Will said. "Yeah we do have a great hospital with state of the art equipment, which probably seems weird to most people, given the size of our town."

"Some of the best surgeons are here too." Paul agreed.

"Most of my family works at the hospital in some fashion." Will answered.

"You too?" Paul asked.

"Oh..umm no, not me, I am a journalist." Will said.

"I didn't think so." Paul said grinning. "I would have remembered seeing you around."

Will blushed, then looked down to see that they were still shaking hands.

"I'm so sorry." Will said, as he embarrassingly pulled his hand away from Paul's.

"No need." Paul said dismissing the apology, "So a journalist huh?"

Will nodded, "I am actually covering the baseball camp for the Salem Chronicle."

"That's awesome." Paul said.

"You know, I was hoping that I could maybe get an interview… John told me that he had a secret guest coming, I am guessing you're the secret."

"Guilty." Paul agreed.

"I would love to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind." Will said.

"Of course not." Paul answered. "Do you have time right now?" he asked. No totally ready to let Will go yet. He was intrigued. And this guy was seriously HOT, in an 'I have no idea how good I look' kind of way.

Sonny watched the exchange in confused silence. What the Hell was going on, they had both all but forgotten that he was still standing there. "I hate to break up….. whatever this is…" he said clearing his throat. "But I have to get back to the club." He said.

Will and Paul both turned to Sonny. "Oh I am so sorry." Will said, embarrassed again.

Will turned back to Paul. "I don't think I can do it right now." He said. "Can I give you my number so we can get together later on?" he asked.

"Sure." Paul grinned, holding his phone out to Will.

Sonny knew that grin. "Ummm, no Will, actually you two go ahead, and I will catch up with you later this evening." He said. He really didn't want Will giving his number out to Paul.

"You sure?" Will asked.

"Absolutely." Sonny answered.

"Okay then, thanks." Will answered.

"Paul." Sonny said, nodding in his direction. "See you around." He gave them on last look before he hurried off.

Paul watched Sonny as he took his hasty retreat. If he didn't misread the situation, Sonny has some sort of feelings for Will. He would just have to figure out what was going on there.

"So where did you want to conduct this interview?" He asked, turning to Will.

"How about we go to the Brady Pub and grab a burger while we talk?" Will asked.

"Sounds great!" Paul answered, "Lead the way."

"So, what do you need physical therapy for?" Will asked. "If that isn't too personal, I mean."

"Not at all." Paul said, "It's going to come out sooner or later anyway."

"What is?" Will asked.

"I threw out my arm." Paul said. "I had to have surgery."

"That's too bad." Will said. "Hopefully you will make it back to the team before the end of the season, God knows I love my Cubbies, but they aren't doing so well this year." He teased.

"Thanks for saying that, but I won't be going back at all." Paul said.

"You are going to another team?" Will asked surprised. "They would be crazy to let you go, or trade you are whatever?"

"No, they aren't trading me or anything, but my pitching career is over, my rotator cuff is completely gone." Paul said.

"Wow." Will said, "That really sucks."

"Yeah." Paul agreed, "It does, but I guess I had a good run."

"Are you kidding me?" Will asked as they walked into the pub, "You had one of the most noteworthy careers ever in the Cubs organization."

Paul actually beamed at the compliment. "Thanks." He said.

"Just calling it like I see it." Will said as they found a table in the corner and sat down.

Caroline walked up to the table. "Hey Will." She said, "Who's you're friend?" she asked.

"Hey Grandma, this is Paul Narita." He said introducing her, knowing the name meant absolutely nothing to her.

"Hi Paul, nice to meet you, I know what my grandson here wants, what can I get you?" she asked.

"I will just take whatever he is having." Paul said.

"Good choice." She said turning her attention back to Paul. "How is my great granddaughter?" she asked.

"She's good Grandma, she grows a foot every day it seems." He said.

"Have you taken her to see her mom lately?" Caroline asked.

"Not in the last couple of weeks." Will said. "But I plan to take her really soon."

"Good." Caroline said. "It's important for her to maintain a relationship with her mom."

"I know." Will said. "I will make sure that I do the right thing for Ari, no matter what it takes."

"I know you will sweetheart, you are an amazing father already." She said walking off.

Paul listened intently to the conversation, surprised to realize that Will was a father. He had been 100 percent sure that Will was interested in him. His radar must be off…

"So you are a dad huh?" Paul asked.

Will nodded. "Yeah… long story, but Arianna is the best thing that I have ever done."

"I got time." Paul said encouraging Will to tell him about his daughter.

"Oh No you don't." Will said, "I am supposed to be interviewing you."

"Fire away." Paul said.

"Well…." Will said considering his question. "What are you going to do now that you can't play ball." He asked.

Paul was quiet while he mulled over his answer. "I am not sure, really, but I was thinking that I may look into being a pitching coach, or maybe I could do some commentating or something, I am sure there are several things that I am well qualified for." He finally said.

"Absolutely." Will agreed, as his grandmother appeared at the table with two glasses filled with soda.

"Here you go boys." She said, "Your food will be up in a couple of minutes."

"Thank you." Paul said politely.

"How much longer do you have with your therapy?" Will asked.

" About another four to six weeks." Paul answered.

"Are you going to stay with the Cubs if possible?" Will continued.

"I would like to." Paul said, "But I would consider any offer, if there are any made." He chuckled.

Will chuckled along with him. "You are going to have more job offers than you know what to do with?" he said.

"We will see." Paul said.

"Is there anything else that you would want to do?" Will asked, "Besides baseball?"

"No." Paul answered quickly, "Baseball has always been all I ever wanted to do. In fact I gave up a lot to pursue my career." He said.

"Are you sorry?" Will asked.

Paul looked Will directly in the eye. "Yes, in a way."

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

"I gave up someone that was very special to me, to follow my dream." Paul said. "After my surgery, while I was healing and waiting to start my therapy, I got to thinking that if I had not given up that special someone then I wouldn't have to go through all of that alone… but then I realized that If I hadn't given that person up, then I would have never had a career to begin with."

"I don't understand why you had to give up your girl to follow your dream." Will said.

"Who said it was a girl?" Paul asked.

"Well… you said someone special." Will said, "I assumed you were talking about a girlfriend."

"Here we go," Caroline said, sitting two plates filled with burgers and thick cut fries in front of them.

"Thanks Grandma." Will said, smiling at her.

"Go on.." Will encouraged as soon as she disappeared again.

"I was actually talking about my boyfriend." Paul said.

Will's eyes flew to Paul's. "Oh." He said surprised.

"Surprised?" Paul asked.

"Yeah." Will said, "How come I never read about this anywhere?"

"Are you kidding me?" Paul asked. "A gay baseball player? I never told anyone because I didn't think I could have my career if it ever got out."

"So you gave up your boyfriend so you didn't get discovered?" Will asked.

"Noooo…" Paul said drawing out the word. "My boyfriend asked me to marry him, and like an asshole I refused because I wanted to be an all star pitcher.… so he said he was tired of living in a closet and settling for stolen hours in a hotel room. He walked away and never looked back."

"And you pressed forward?" Will asked.

Paul nodded, "I threw myself into baseball even harder, I let it consume me." He said.

"Did you ever see him again?" Will asked.

"I did recently." Paul said. "He told me in no uncertain terms that there is no room for me in his new life."

"Wow." Will said. "Sounds like he was pretty hurt when you two broke up."

"I'm sure he was." Paul said. "I know I was, but it is all over and behind us now."

"Do you still love him?" Will asked.

"I thought I did." Paul said. "Now I am not so sure, I think maybe I was just nostalgia that led me to seek him out."

"Do you think he still loves you?" Will asked, "Maybe he said that he has no room in his life for you because he is scared of being hurt again."

"That could be possible I guess, but he is so close to having the life he always dreamed of… with someone else of course." Paul said. "I would never want to ruin that for him, if that is what he truly wants."

Will picked up a French fry and nibbled on it thoughtfully.

Paul took advantage of the lull in the conversation and took a bite of his burger.

Will considered what he wanted to ask next and realized that he had practically been grilling Paul about his personal life and he had absolutely no idea how much of it he could put into print.

"Sorry for the interrogation." Will said sheepishly. "I got so involved in the story that I forgot to concentrate on getting things that I can write about."

"It's okay." Paul said, "I completely see why you are a journalist. I have never talked about myself that much in my life, and certainly not to a reporter."

Will grinned, pleased with the compliment. "So how much can I print?" he asked. "I am assuming that you don't want me to write about you being gay, but what about your surgery, and your therapy, do you want people to know that your career is over."

Paul was quiet for a few minutes, this could be a sure fire way to make sure he spends plenty of time with Will. "You can write about my surgery, and my recovery for starters, then later you can write about the end of my career, after I make sure my team and my agent are all on board with me going public… then if that goes well, I will even let you write my coming out story… how does that sound?"

"Fantastic!" Will said, flabbergasted. "It was much more than he had ever dreamed he would get."

"Great." Paul said, "Now you know everything there is to know about my personal life, at least as it pertains to the last several years. I think it is only fair that I know about you."

Will eyed him warily. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"I am not near as good at asking questions as you are, so I am going to trust you to tell me about yourself." Paul said.

"It's a long boring story." Will warned him.

"I got all the time in the world." Paul said, sitting back getting comfortable.


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't really even know where to start." Will said fidgeting.

"Tell me about your daughter." Paul suggested.

"Arianna Grace." Will said. "She is the best part of my life." He gushed. "I wasn't sure how I was going to raise a child alone, but I think I am doing okay. At least I hope I am."

"So you aren't with her mom?" Paul asked.

"Gabi?" Will asked, "No… I used to be." He said offhandedly. "Gabi and I were a couple for our senior year of high school and the first part of college. I loved her, in fact I still love her, just not like a boyfriend is supposed to love his girlfriend. She was more like my best friend. I had suspected that I was gay for a long time, but I was terrified that my family would not accept me, that they would turn their back on me, so I tried my hardest to ignore that part of myself and be just what she needed. I was doing okay with it, until this new guy moved to town. We became friends pretty fast and I developed a huge crush on him. It really threw me for a loop. I became more and more withdrawn over time and eventually Gabi started asking questions. She wanted to know why I never wanted to be alone with her, why I didn't kiss her. She even asked why we had been together for so long and we had never had sex. I didn't have a good answer for any of those questions, so I sat her down and told her the truth. We broke up, while somehow managing to stay friends, and my crush on my friend continued to get worse. Then there was an explosion in town and he found me, and I guess he was crushing on me too, because when he found me and saw I was safe, he kissed me, out of the blue. I had never kissed a man before and I freaked out. I went running back to Gabi, I was scared and confused. I thought we could just give it one more shot. She was going through something of her own that day, she had been turned down but the guy that she was trying to date. She was convinced something was wrong with her…. I felt responsible for that in a way, so while we were comforting each other, one thing led to another, and we ended up having sex that night, and that is how Arianna was conceived."

"WOW" Paul said. "That's quite a story, what happened next?"

"The next morning we realized that we had made a huge mistake." Will said. "I apologized and took off. A couple days later, I went to see my friend, the one I was crushing on, to apologize, but he wouldn't hear it. He apologized for misreading my signals and I thought I had ruined everything, but we eventually worked it out and got on the same page. He was there for me when I came out, he encouraged me, and hetaught me so much about myself that I didn't know. He was amazing."

"So you are with your friend then." Paul said.

"Ummmm no." Will said. "It didn't work out."

"Why not?" Paul asked. "What could have happened to tear you apart after all of that?"

"Well that's another long story and I really don't want to bore you with the gory details." Will said.

"I'm not bored at all, and I wouldn't ask if I didn't really want to know." Paul said.

"UUUUGHHHH" Will groaned. "I don't want to tell you all about my dirty laundry."

"Hey, I have made mistakes, so no judgment here." Paul said.

"Fine." Will said. "I will give you the short version." He looked down at the table, suddenly finding his napkin very interesting, and he began to talk. "Just around the time that things were on an even keel with me and my new boyfriend, in fact it was the night that he and I were …. Umm…. intimate for the first time, Gabi came beating on the door, she was crying and upset and when I went to talk to her, she told me she was pregnant with Arianna. I panicked; I didn't want to jeopardize the happiness that was finally mine, So I kept it a secret. I let her convince me to let her and her new boyfriend raise my baby as their own. The longer it went on the more I regretted my decision, her boyfriend was an asshole and a homophobe and I knew that if I went through with that, he would raise my kid to be just like him. My boyfriend knew something was wrong and he asked me more than once to please just tell him what was going on , but I didn't want to lose him sooo…. I kept it to myself. It was getting closer and closer to the time to the time that the baby would be born and she was going to put his name on the birth certificate as the father. I didn't know what to do, so I stood up at their wedding and announced that the baby was mine. Needless to say the whole town was shocked… but Sonny was furious when he found out I had been lying to him for months. We broke up and he wouldn't even talk to me for months."

"Wait…." Paul said, "So Sonny was the friend that moved to town, you and Sonny were a couple?" he asked.

Will nodded. "Yeah, it took forever for us to get back to a place where we could even have a conversation without it ending with an argument." He said. "By the time he forgave me he was already with Brian, that's his fiancé. That really hurt, but I accepted their relationship, I figured it would be better to have Sonny as a friend than not at all." Will explained. "So that's pretty much it, the whole sordid story."

"Wow." Paul said again. "I can't believe what you have been through."

"I can't believe that I told you all that, I have no idea why I did it." Will said.

"Maybe, it means you are comfortable with me. Paul said.

Will thought about that for a minute…. "Maybe" he agreed.

"So just to be clear…. You aren't dating anyone right now, right?" Paul asked.

Will chuckled. "Right, there is absolutely no one in my life, other than my daughter."

"Alright, then how would you like to go out to dinner with me?" Paul asked.

Will gaped at him, "You mean after that whole crazy mess I just described to you, you are asking me on a date?"

"Sure… why not?" Paul asked. "All that stuff you told me is in the past right?"

"Yeah…" Will answered.

"Good… then have dinner with me on Saturday night." Paul urged.

"Okay!" Will said grinning at him.

"So…. Do you wanna talk about it?" Brian asked.

"Talk about what?" Sonny asked absently.

"About whatever is bothering you." Brian answered. "You have been moody for a few days."

"Nothing is bothering me." Sonny insisted, "I am just tired, I guess."

"Okay." Brian said, dropping the subject for the moment. "So the weekend coming up is going to be my last weekend off, for God only knows how long. Do you maybe want to do something special?" he asked. "We could even go out of town for the weekend if you want."

"I can't." Sonny said. "There is no one to watch the club."

"Where's Chad?" Brian asked. "I saw him at the hospital, so I know he is in town."

"I don't know, I haven't seen him in a couple days." Sonny said. "Besides I have a large order coming in on Friday and I need to be there to make sure it is taken care of."

"Sonny, that's the beauty of being an owner of the business, delegate the responsibility and assign someone to be there in your place." Brian said. "I really want to spend this weekend concentrating on me and you."

Sonny looked up, "I will see what I can do." He relented. He felt guilty; he knew that he had been cranky and moody the last few days. He had been snappy and short tempered with everyone lately and it was all Paul's fault.

Brian fell silent and Sonny allowed his mind to wander back to Monday night…..

 _Sonny put the money for the opening shift into the till on the register and closed the drawer. He flipped the light switch above the bar off and was headed for the door to lock up when he realized that he had left his Ipad on the desk in his office. He went back there and picked it up. When he made it back into the bar he was startled to see Will standing there in the middle of the room._

" _Will, what are you doing here?" he asked._

" _I came to see you." Will said. "We never got to finish our conversation the other day, and I wanted to see you anyway."_

" _Oh." Sonny said, surprised at the butterflies that suddenly took flight in his stomach."Yeah, I tried to call you the other night."_

" _Sorry, I saw you called but it was pretty late… soooo what did you want to talk about the other day when we went for that walk?" Will asked._

" _Oh it was nothing in particular." Sonny said, "I really just wanted to check on you. I know how hard you have been working and how busy things are with Arianna, and you and Neil broke up, I guess I have been worried about you."_

" _Oh." Will said, "I was sure you were trying to tell me something."_

" _I don't think so." Sonny lied. "If I was, I don't remember what it was about."_

" _Oh… well." Will said, "Neil and I are done this time… for sure, no going back. But Guess what." He said excitedly._

" _What?" Sonny asked, dreading the answer. Will's eyes were practically dancing with excitement._

" _I have a date Saturday night." Will announced._

" _No way, with who?" Sonny asked, fearing that he already knew the answer._

" _Paul." Will said, smiling from ear to ear._

" _The guy I introduced you to the other day in the square?" Sonny asked, "Paul Narita?"_

 _Will nodded wildly, "Yes!" he confirmed. "We had a long lunch the other day, when I was interviewing him for the piece I am writing about the baseball camp for the paper. We really got along and he asked me out."_

" _Uhhh Will, " Sonny said rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think that is such a good idea."_

" _Why?" Will asked "He seems like a really great guy, and he is completely gorgeous."_

" _Will, he is a celebrity, and you know they can be stuck up, not to mention they use people." Sonny cautioned him. "Paul Narita is someone who is used to getting his way."_

" _I don't think Paul is like that." Will argued. "We talked for a long time and he told me about his life and losing the love of his life over baseball and I told him a little about my life and how I lost someone really special because of mistakes I made. I think we may have a lot in common."_

" _Maybe even more that you know." Sonny muttered under his breath. He looked up at Will, "I really don't think you should do this." He said._

" _Thanks for being worried about me, but I got this, I know what I am doing!"_

"EARTH TO SONNY! HELLO…..HELLO…" Brian said snapping his fingers in front of Sonny's face. "What are you thinking about?" He asked, open hostility coloring his words.

Sonny coiled back from the anger in Brian's voice. "What? I'm sorry." He said.

"I have been sitting here talking to you for fifteen minutes about places we could go, or things we could do and you haven't heard a word that I have said. Brian accused.

"I'm sorry." Sonny said, "Tell me again, I'm listening."

"No…." Brian spat out, "Not until you tell me what has you so bent out of shape."

Sonny pushed the thoughts of Will out of his mind. "It's nothing, really."

Brian looked at Sonny for a few minutes before he decided what to say. He knew that whatever was bothering Sonny, had to have something to do with Will Horton. "You heard from Will lately?" he finally asked. "I haven't heard you mention him all week."

Sonny's eyes clouded over. "No, I haven't talked to him in a few days." He answered.

"That what's bothering you?" Brian asked snidely.

Sonny looked at him, surprised. "What? No, don't be ridiculous." Sonny said, it's just a situation going on at the club." He lied.

"What has Will been up to?" Brian pushed a little further.

"How would I know, I just said that I haven't talked to him in a few days." Sonny answered.

"Did you two have an argument?" Brian asked.

"No, he is busy getting ready for his big date, I'm sure." Sonny snapped.

" _Ahhh"_ Brian thought, _"Now we are getting somewhere."_ He waited a beat… "Who is his date with, He giving Neil yet another chance?" he asked.

"No, He's fucking going out with Paul Narita…" Sonny said, looking up at Brian.

Brian's eyes narrowed at him. "You are jealous." He said, finally understanding Sonny's moodiness.

"You're crazy." Sonny said. All the while, wondering if it was true in the back of his mind.

"NO!" Brian all but screamed. "I'm not crazy, I'm right…"

"It isn't anything like that." Sonny yelled back, "Paul is just not right for Will."

"And who is?" Brian asked. "Neil was never good enough….. you freak out whenever I offer to introduce him to any of my other available friends, and now Paul…. A MAJOR LEAGUE FUCKING BALL PLAYER is not good enough….. That's just the thing isn't it Sonny … no one will ever been good enough…. Well that is no one but you.."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sonny asked.

"Figure it out." Brian said, snatching his coat off of the hanger and slamming out of the apartment.

Sonny went over and dropped onto the couch. Brian was wrong, he wasn't jealous…. He couldn't be jealous. He and Will were friends. He just wants to see him happy with the right person. That person, just doesn't happen to be his ex, that's all.


	5. Chapter 5

Sonny wasn't sure how long he sat there on the couch before he decided that he would just over and talk to Paul. He knew that Paul was only doing this to get back at him and there was no need to drag Will into this mess. He grabbed his coat and slipped it on before he hurried out the door.

He strode up to the desk at the hotel and asked to be directed to Paul Narita's room.

"What's your name sir?' The clerk asked him "You have to be on his visitor list."

"Sonny Kiriakis." He said.

She considered her list. "Yes Sir, Top floor penthouse." She said. "The code for the elevator is 4756"

"Thank you," Sonny said. He went over to the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor then entered the necessary code. When the elevator stopped, he took a deep breath and stepped out into the hallway. He walked over and rapped on the door.

It was a couple of minutes before the door opened, and Paul stood there shirtless, his pants slung low on his hips.

"Sonny." He said, giving him a slow sexy grin. "What brings you here?"

"I uhhhh, I just wanted to talk to you…. About Will." He said.

"Come on in." Paul said stepping aside.

Sonny walked into the room and looked around.

"Have a seat." Paul said nodding to the sofa that lined the far wall. He went over and picked up a shirt pulling it over his head.

Sonny walked over and took a set. He waited for Paul to pull his shirt on before he began talking.

"So Will said you asked him out." He said, not quite sure how to say what he had come to say, now that he was here.

"Yeah, well we got along pretty good the other day when we had lunch." Paul said.

"I really wish you hadn't done that." Sonny mumbled.

Paul's eyebrows shot up. "Why's that?" he asked. "Correct me if I am wrong here, but you made it pretty plain that you aren't interested in revisiting our past."

"I'm not." Sonny snapped. "I just don't want to see Will hurt."

"And why do you think I am going to hurt him?" Paul asked glaring at Sonny.

"Come on…." Sonny said, "I know you asked him out to get back at me."

"How is me asking Will out getting back at you?" Paul asked, "Do you have something going with Will on the side that I should know about?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Sonny snapped.

"Then are you saying that you think there is no way I could be attracted to Will…. That he isn't good enough for me?" Paul asked.

"No… of course not" Sonny snapped. "This is getting all messed up. You are twisting my words. I just come to tell you that there is no reason to drag Will into this mess between us. Will is a good man, and he is newly out, and he is not going to be happy being shoved back in a closet."

Paul stood up, and paced in frustration. "I already told you, I am done with that life. In fact I told Will he can write my coming out story if he wants."

"What?" Sonny asked surprised. "You are going public?"

"Yeah, eventually." Paul answered. "I am tired of hiding, I lost one of the best things I ever had in my life doing that, and I am not going to make that same mistake again."

"That's all good, until you change your mind." Sonny said, "I am asking you to please leave Will out of this."

"Sonny, I do thank you for your obvious concern." Paul said sarcastically, "But I think you should just go on back home to your fiancé, what's his name….. Brian, right? Go on back to Brian and mind your own business. Will is a big boy and I think he is capable of making a decision on his own."

He walked over to the door and held it open for Sonny, waiting until he was on the other side of the door. "Have a good weekend Sonny." He said, swinging the door closed.

Sonny stood there staring at the door for a few minutes, then he turned and pressed the call button for the elevator.

He moped around the square for a while, thinking about all that Paul had said. He wondered if he would really go through with it this time. There had been a time that he thought that Paul would make that grand gesture for him. That was what he had really wanted to happen the day he told Paul that he was leaving…..

 _Sonny placed his packed suitcase on the bed. He made one last sweep through the suite that he had rented using a credit card that Paul had set up for him, so that it could be in Sonny's name. It was the hotel room where he had proposed to Paul, ironically also the one he had been turned down in. He had pleaded with Paul to marry him actually, not that it had made a difference. Once he was satisfied that he had collected all of his belongings, he went back and sat down on the bench at the end of the bed. He went over what he wanted to say in his head, wishing Paul would hurry up before he lost his nerve. He looked at his watch, wondering what could be keeping him, the team meeting should have been over a few hours ago, and the team would be headed to the next stop in this string of away games in a couple of hours._

 _Mere minutes later, Paul opened the door and stepped inside. He closed the door, making sure to lock it behind him. "Hey Babe." He said, sorry I am late." He said moving over to kiss Sonny softly on the lips._

 _Sonny waved it off, he was used to waiting for Paul, there was always some fan wanting an autograph, and that one autograph turned into one hundred. As long as there were people standing around asking him to sign things he would stand there signing away, usually till the manager pulled him away. But sometimes it was a team member inviting him out for drinks and wouldn't take no for an answer…. And the excuses always went on and on and on._

" _I have to be back soon. The bus leaves for the airport in about an hour." Paul said. "But I wanted to come say good bye and give you the name of the hotel that I wanted you to get in Toronto. I think, it is called…."_

" _I'm not going to Toronto." Sonny cried out._

 _Paul looked at him curiously. "Of course you are, I am going to be there for four days and then we have a three day weekend." He said. "We can have some uninterrupted time together."_

" _I can't live like this anymore." Sonny said, sinking back down onto the bench._

" _The season will be over in a couple of months and we will have some down time." Paul said. "I know all the travelling gets tiring, but I promise I will make it worth your while." He teased._

 _Sonny shook his head. "That's not what I mean." Sonny said. "I love the travelling."_

" _What is it then?" Paul asked._

" _I can't live my life as your secret anymore." Sonny said. "It is killing me."_

 _Paul groaned… "Sonny, baby…. Not this again. You know that I love you, and I would shout it to the world if I could, but I just can't."_

" _Can't….. or Won't?" Sonny asked. "You could change people's lives, if you would just take a chance." he said._

" _I can't Sonny, I can not take the chance that I would not be able to play ball anymore, you know how much I love it."_

" _Do you love it more than you love me?" Sonny asked pointedly._

" _Sonny, please don't ask me to choose between you and baseball." Paul said sadly, looking pained._

 _Sonny looked at him, and realized that Paul had already made his choice, when he turned down his wedding proposal the night before. "You don't have to choose…" Sonny said._

 _The pained expression on Paul's face eased up, and he reached out to pull Sonny up._

 _Sonny stood and side stepped his outstretched hand. "You don't have to choose, I will choose for you." He said. "Good bye Paul, I hope that you find the happiness you deserve someday." He croaked, as he held out an envelope to him. "That's your credit card and the key to your apartment."_

 _Paul took the envelope and dropped it onto the bed. "Sonny…. Don't do this." He said, "It won't be like this forever, I promise."_

" _Please don't make this any harder for me, than it already is." Sonny said, pulling his suitcase off the bed, clenching it tightly in his hands in front of him. "You know how much I love you, but I have to do what's right for me." He turned and opened the door, hurrying out, and rushing toward the elevator._

 _Part of him hoped that Paul would chase him down the hall, and beg him not to go…. but he knew that would never happen. He knew Paul would never risk anyone seeing such a display._

"Sonny…." Chad said, pulling Sonny from his memory.

Sonny looked up and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his coat.

"What's wrong?" Chad asked.

"Hey Chad." He said, "What's up?"

"Nothin' man." Chad said. "You just looked like you could use a friend, that's all."

Sonny silently moved over, making a place for Chad to sit down beside him.

Chad took the seat and remained quiet, allowing Sonny the opportunity to talk when he was ready.

"Me and Brian had a fight." Sonny said eventually, deciding to start from the least complicated end of the problem. Not quite sure how much he wanted to tell.

"It was a bad one huh?" Chad asked.

"He is pretty mad." Sonny said.

"What was the fight about?" Chad asked.

"Will." Sonny said simply.

"That's always been a touchy subject between you two." Chad acknowledged.

Sonny nodded his agreement.

"What about Will?" Chad pressed.

"He has a date Saturday." Sonny said.

"That's great!" Chad said. "But why would you and Brian be fighting about Will having a date? Seems to me that Brian would have been elated."

"Brian thinks I am jealous." Sonny said.

"Are you?" Chad asked.

Sonny looked over at him… "No." He said. "I just don't think that this guy is right for Will."

"Ahhh." Chad said. "So what's wrong with him?"

"He is a major league ball player." Sonny said.

"WOW." Chad said, clearly impressed. "Just what's wrong with that?"

"You know how celebrities are. They are always out for themselves, used to getting their way and they don't care who they hurt. " Sonny said. "I don't want to see Will get burned."

"Not all celebrities are the same." Chad said. "This guy may be a dream boat."

"He can be pretty charming when he wants to." Sonny said. "He certainly knows how to get his way."

"Sounds like you know him." Chad said. "How's that?"

"Paul and I dated a long time ago." Sonny said.

"So wait, let me get this straight you dated the guy that Will is going out with this weekend?" Chad said.

"Yeah." Sonny said miserably.

"Is that what bothers you about the situation, that Will is going out with an old flame of yours?" Chad asked.

"No…." Sonny denied. Then shook his head… "Maybe, I don't even know." He said truthfully.

"Sonny did you make a big fuss about this to Brian?" Chad asked.

"No, not really." Sonny said "I just said that I didn't think that Paul is right for Will and he got mad and said that I don't think anyone is good enough for Will."

"Hmmm" Chad said. "Is that how you feel?" Chad asked. "You know you never seemed to like Will with Neil either."

"NO!" Sonny snapped. "Neil was never good enough for Will, he was always just after one thing…. But there are people….. Like you, you would be good enough for him…." Sonny said.

"Whoa there buddy. I play for the other team, remember." Chad said laughing."

"Yeah." Sonny said. "I'm just making a point."

"Sonny, you know Will is a grown man." Chad said.

"Yeah, but he is still young and, I just want to…" Sonny began.

"I know how much history you two have together." Chad interrupted him. "But I am your friend and I am his friend, I am telling you this because I think you need to hear it. Will waited for you for a long time. He waited for you to realize that yes he lied to you about Arianna but he did it because he was terrified he would lose you. He waited for you to understand that and take him back. But you plowed ahead with Brian. There wasn't a more devastated person in this town the day you showed up at the club wearing Brian's ring, and announced that you were getting married. But Will pushed all of his hurt aside because he couldn't stand to lose your friendship too. He is learning to move forward without you, If you care about him as much as I know you do…you won't ruin that for him."

"Will waited for me?" Sonny said, dumbfounded.

"Man… come on." Chad said, "Why do you think Neil could never get past one or two dates at a time?" Will kept giving him the boot every time he pushed Will for more than he wanted to give."

"I didn't know." Sonny said. "Will kept saying that he was concentrating on Arianna."

"He didn't want you to know, he didn't want you to feel guilty and come back to him because of that." Chad said. "Anyway all of that is water under the bridge now. You and Brian are a couple of months away from getting married, Will accepted that after a very long and painful time, and now he is finally moving on. Now what you need to do is get back to your apartment and let Brian know that he has nothing to be jealous of where Will is concerned."

Sonny's mind was reeling, Will had waited on him, but was over him now…

"Go on now." Chad said getting up and urging him off the bench. "I will keep an eye on Will and the new guy, you concentrate on your relationship."

"Thanks Chad." Sonny mumbled before he walked off.

Sonny walked slowly back to his apartment building. Had he really hurt Will like that? He thought back over the last year and a half. The first several months, he had been so hurt himself that he hadn't cared if Will was hurt or not. Later when they had finally started gaining ground toward friendship again, Brian had been very publicly affectionate, protective of his relationship with Sonny. Will had not spent a lot of time around him a Brian then, and even now he had to acknowledge that at least eighty percent of the time when he saw Will, Brian was not around. He wondered if it still hurt Will to see them together.

He looked up to see that he was at his apartment building. He went inside to find Brian sitting on the couch, nursing a glass of Jack Daniels. Brian looked up when he came in the door, then looked away.

"Where did you go?" Brian asked.

Sonny answered him cautiously. "I just needed to get some air." He hedged. It would probably be best to leave out the part about seeing Paul and warning him off of Will.

"Where's Will tonight?" Brian asked.

"I don't know, I didn't go to see Will." Sonny said, "But I did run into Chad in the square and we talked for a while."

"Hmmm" Brian said. "Did you ask him to watch the club for you this weekend?"

"No," Sonny said. "I forgot actually, but I am sure he won't mind. I think you are right we should get out of here for a few days."

Brian finally looked back up at him. "Really?" he asked.

"Yes." Sonny said, "We need some alone time. No one around but me and you." He continued as he sat on the couch beside Brian. "I love you." He said, "I'm sorry, if I ever made you doubt that."

"I love you too." Brian said. "I love you so much and I don't want to lose what we have."

"We won't." Sonny said, we just have to learn to trust each other.

Brian smiled and nodded, getting up and leading Sonny toward the bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6

Paul stood outside Will's door, and took a couple of deep breaths to calm his nerves. Then he smiled at his own unease. How long had it been since he was nervous to go on a date. He was a pretty confident guy and he really could not even remember the last time he had any kind of butterflies.

He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and knocked on the door. He was surprised when a young woman opened the door.

"Gabi?" he asked.

The young woman shook her head no…"Abby" she corrected. "I am Will's cousin, come on in." She said stepping aside to allow Paul into the apartment.

Paul walked in and looked around. It was a small little apartment with evidence of a baby in just about every corner. He noticed Abby watching him.

"Oh sorry," He said. "I'm Paul." He held out his hand to her.

"I know who you are." Abby said. "Will filled me in."

Paul looked at her curiously. She didn't seem to like him much. He opened his mouth to ask if he had offended her, but Will walked out of what had to be the nursery.

"Paul, you're here." Will said.

"Hey!" Paul said.

"I'm almost ready." Will said picking up his wallet and shoving it into the back pocket of the form fitting jeans he wore.

"Take your time." Paul said.

Will turned to Abby, "I won't be out too late, Arianna should be down for the night, but call if you need anything." He said.

Abby smiled at him. "This isn't my first time in the baby-sitting rodeo." She said. "Get out of here and have a great time." She pointed at the door.

"Okay… okay…" Will said. "He turned back to Paul, I guess I am ready."

Paul held out a hand. "Let's go then."

They walked out the door and out into the parking lot. Paul opened the passenger door for Will and waited for him to climb in before he closed the door.

Paul slid into the driver's seat. Will looked over at him. "So where are we going?" he asked.

"It's a surprise." Paul said teasingly.

"Oh noooo." Will groaned.

"What?" Paul asked. "Don't you like surprises?"

"Not really." Will said slowly.

"Oh!" Paul said. "Okay then, well I thought we would go bowling, eat some good ooey gooey pizza and then maybe get some ice cream or something." He said. "I know it is kind of a goofy first date, but I wanted to do something carefree and fun, sort of a no pressure date."

"That sounds fantastic." Will said. "I love bowling."

"Good." Paul said. It wasn't long before he pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. He hopped out in a hurry and went around to open Will's door.

Will was impressed, no one had ever opened his car doors for him.

They walked up to the counter and gave their shoe sizes to the teenage girl behind the counter and then Paul handed her his credit card, then signed the slip that she pushed across the counter at him.

They walked over to their lane and Will sat down to program their names into their teleprompter.

"I am going to go order the pizza, what do you like on it?" Paul asked.

"Whatever you like is good with me." Will said. "I like all pizza."

"You sure?" Paul asked.

Will nodded. "Yep, completely." He assured Paul.

"Want anything else?" Paul asked.

"Just soda." Will said.

"Mmmkay." Paul said. He turned to go to the food counter and saw a group of girls watching them intently. He wondered if they recognized him, or if they were staring at his incredibly hot date. He hoped whichever one it was… they kept their distance.

He ordered the pizza and took the number they handed him for the table. He hurried back over to the lane to see Will pulling his shoes on.

He noticed that Will had already picked out a couple of bowling balls from the shelf lining the wall.

Will followed Paul's gaze and smiled sheepishly. "I hope you don't mind but I got one that is probably a lot lighter than you must be used to, but I thought it may be easier on your shoulder."

Paul swallowed thickly. No one had ever did anything to sort of look out for him, like that. "Thank you Will." He said.

Will nodded. "Soo I feel like I should warn you, I am a pretty decent bowler." He said, grinning at Paul.

"That so?" Paul asked. "I used to do okay." He said. "I may be a little rusty though, I haven't bowled in a long time."

"Well, it's time to find out." Will said. "You are up first."

"Me?" Paul asked, "Okay then."

He picked up the ball, and swung it a couple of times… Will was right it was a good bit lighter than he was used to, but he thought it would be okay. He took the few steps that were necessary and swung and released the ball. It flew down the center of the lane and promptly knocked down all twelve pins.

Will watched in awe… "So that was you being rusty?" he asked.

Paul shrugged one shoulder. "I guess I haven't lost my touch yet." He said.

"Guess not." Will mumbled. He got up and picked up his ball, praying that he didn't completely embarrass himself. He eased up to the lane and took his turn. He watched the ball holding his breath.

Paul was so busy watching the way his body moved in those jeans that he forgot to watch what happened with the ball. Whatever it was, it must have been good, because Will jumped into the air and did a little fist pump. Paul glanced up at the teleprompter and saw that Will had made a strike as well.

Will smiled at him triumphantly.

They continued back and forth like that through the first game, the score was almost tied. Then they took a break to eat the pizza the waitress had brought to the table. The laughed and chatted easily as they ate.

"So what do you think, One more game?" Paul asked. Looking at his watch, surprised to see that it was still relatively early.

Will nodded eagerly. "Sure." He said.

"Alright." Paul said, getting up and getting the ball, the minute he picked it up, he felt the stir in his arm. It was a tense, achy feeling. He didn't think he had done all of that much, he thought he had been taking it easy. But he was definitely going to be feeling some pain in the morning. He didn't want to say anything to Will. He had been so eager to play another game, so he eased up to the lane and threw the ball as carefully as he could.

He stood there watching as it rolled down and knocked down the three pins on the edge of the lane. He winced and clenched his fist to keep from rubbing his shoulder.

"What's up hot shot?" Will teased. "You lose your edge?"

Paul shrugged, "I thought I would be a gentleman and let you win." He said.

"Oh… sure…" Will said.

A couple of turns later, Will excused himself to go to the restroom. He ducked out of site and turned back to watch Paul.

Paul sat down in the chair and slid his hand into the collar of his shirt. He rubbed his shoulder a few times and then rotated it back and forth while he waited for Will to come back.

Will watched him, and knew he was in pain. He didn't want to embarrass Paul so, he hurried on to the restroom, to give himself a chance to figure out what he wanted to do. When he came back, he dropped into the chair beside Paul.

"Hey…" he said. "I think I am ready for my dessert. Can we go get the ice cream now?" he asked.

"You sure?" Paul asked. "We can finish the game." he didn't want to disappoint Will.

"Nah, another time." Will said, "Let's go." He kicked off his bowling shoes and picked up his tennis shoes.

Paul followed his lead, and changed his shoes.

They returned their shoes to the counter and made their way out into the night.

Paul opened the door for him again. "So which Ice Cream shop do you want to go to?"

"Ooooh….. the one in the square." Will said. "It's the best."

Paul nodded and drove them toward the center of town.

They parked and walked into the square. Paul reached out and took Will's hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

Will looked at him, surprised.

"This okay?" Paul asked, holding their intertwined hands up.

"Yeah." Will said, smiling at him shyly.

They went into the creamery and waited in the long line to get to the counter. When they finally made it to the counter, Paul leaned over and whispered in Will's ear. "Order me whatever you are having." He said.

Will smiled and turned to the elderly lady behind the counter. "We want two banana splits with extra everything." Will said.

The clerk raised her eyebrows at him, but punched it into the register. "That'll be $16.00" she said.

Paul let go of Will's hand and pulled his wallet from his pocket. He handed her a $20. He smiled at the clerk, "No change." He said.

They moved down the counter to wait for the extremely large sweet concoction that was already overflowing the container even before the half a can of whipped cream was added to each one.

They were handed the monstrous bowls along with two spoons. Paul looked at Will, "Ummmm how are we going to eat all of this?" he asked laughing.

"Easily." Will said. "Come on I will show you." He led Paul over to the small table in the corner, and they sat down.

Paul took a few bites as he watched Will dig into his with gusto.

Paul had to admit, it was really really good ice cream, but there was no possible way he would be able to eat all of that.

Paul ate until he felt like he would be sick, then pushed it out from in front of him. He watched as Will ate, wondering where he put it.

Will ate all of his ice cream… every bite. "How in the world did you eat all of that?" Paul asked laughing.

"I didn't eat that much pizza." Will said. "And I didn't eat anything earlier today. I was too nervous."

"What were you nervous about?" Paul asked.

"I don't know." Will said. "It was silly."

Paul smiled. "You done, or do you want the rest of mine?" he asked.

"Ughhh no" Will laughed. "I probably won't eat ice cream again for a year."

Paul looked at his watch. It was nearing Eleven O'clock. "You want to go for a walk or did you need to get home?" he asked.

"How about you walk me home?" Will said, "It really isn't that far if we take the shortcut through the park."

"Okay." Paul said.

They walked through the park talking quietly. Paul reached out and took Will's hand again, rubbing his thumb over Will's knuckles.

When they emerged on the other side of the park Paul realized that Will's apartment was just across the street. How had he not realized that earlier.

They crossed the street at the crosswalk and Paul walked him to his door.

"I had a really nice time tonight." Paul said.

"So did I." Will agreed. "Thanks for taking me out."

"It was my pleasure." Paul said. "I would really like to do it again sometime soon."

"Me too." Will said, staring into Paul's eyes.

"Next weekend?" Paul asked.

Will nodded yes, then changed his mind and shook his head no.

Paul looked disappointed.

"The baseball camp is next Saturday and Sunday." Will said.

"Oh yeah." Paul said. "Friday night then?"

"Okay." Will said.

They stared at each other, neither making a move.

"Can I kiss you goodnight Will?" Paul finally asked.

Will nodded dumbly.

Paul smiled, his tongue peaked out to moisten his lips, before he pressed them against Wills.

That was all he was going to allow himself until Will's lips parted on a sigh. Then Paul couldn't help himself. He swept his tongue across Will's lips, parting them and exploring his mouth. Will kissed him back with enthusiasm, he matched him stroke for stroke. He kissed Will until he was dizzy and had to come up for air.

Paul forced himself to back away. "Goodnight Will." He said.

"Night." Will said, lifting his fingers to touch his lips. He watched Paul walk away until he was out of site, then he opened the door and practically floated into the apartment.

He saw Abigail asleep on the couch. He took the blanket from the back of the couch and spread it over her, then he snuck a peek at his baby girl to make sure she was sleeping soundly.

When he was satisfied that she was fine he went into his bedroom and sat down on the bed. Tonight had been pretty near perfect he thought as he stripped and went to the bathroom to shower. His lips still tingling from Paul's kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a good Week for Will, he wasn't sure if his feet had touched the ground the whole week long. Paul had called him on Sunday, and they had texted a little on Monday and Tuesday. He had thought about asking Paul a couple of times about his shoulder, but he didn't want to embarrass him, so he had decided against it. But Paul had said that he was good after therapy so Will took that as a good sign.

The only thing that was bothering Will was that he had stopped to see Sonny on Sunday afternoon and Chad had said that Sonny went out of town with Brian for the weekend, so he had went back on Monday, and Lauren had said he just missed him, then Tuesday she had said that he didn't come in at all. And now it was Wednesday afternoon and Will was going to try again. He was sure that Sonny would be here today, he usually had orders coming in on Wednesdays.

He walked up to the counter, and sat down at one of the bar stools. "Hey T." he said as his friend nodded to him, as he handed a couple of lattes over the counter to students that Will recognized from Salem U.

"Hey Will, what can I get for you?" he asked, walking over to him.

"Just the usual." Will said. He watched T walk over and start getting the ingredients together for his frozen cappuccino "Is Sonny around?" he asked, looking around the club.

"Uhhhh no." T said. "He was in earlier, but I think he must have left for the day."

"Oh." Will said, "Is he okay, he hasn't been around all week?"

"Yeah, well at least I think so." T said. "He said something about trying to spend more time with Brian before his residency starts."

"Oh, that's good, I guess." Will said, taking the coffee that T offered him.

Will passed him a folded bill across the counter, and T pushed it back at him. "You know your money is no good here." He said. "After all the boss did give you a free coffee for life card."

"I'm pretty sure that expired when we broke up." Will said.

"Not as far as I am concerned." T said, turning to greet the new customer that had stepped up to the bar.

Will took a few sips of his coffee and then took the cup to go. "See you around T." he called as he walked out the door. He had an hour before his next class and he didn't want to go home so hewent to the square and sat down on the sofa. He would just have to try again tomorrow to see Sonny.

He was still sitting there enjoying his frappe when John walked by him, then stopped and came back to stand beside the sofa.

"Will." John said, "Do you mind if I join you? I wanted to talk to you a little about the article that you are going to be writing about the baseball thing this weekend."

"Sure." Will said, scooting over, making room for him to sit.

"Great!" John said, "I know I told you that we have a secret surprise guest, but I guess I should tell you who it is so you can do your research on him before it comes time for you to interview him." John said.

Will smiled broadly, "I already know who it is, and my research is well under way." Will assured him.

"Oh, okay then, well that's great kid." He said. "But how did you find out?" he asked confused.

"Oh… well Sonny is a mutual friend, and he introduced me to Paul." Will said, "I have already conducted my preliminary interview and started on the draft, of course I will want Paul to look over it before I hand it in."

"I think that is a fine idea." John said. "He is doing us a huge favor and I want him to be completely comfortable with whatever you write."

"I will make sure he is." Will assured him.

"Alright Kid, see you this weekend then" John said, as he got up to leave.

Will waved as he headed off and then considered his drink. He wondered briefly if he should have mentioned that he and Paul had gone on a date, but he quickly decided that he would rather wait to see if it went anywhere.

T walked to the back office of the club, and knocked on the door.

"Come in." came the gruff reply.

"He's gone boss." T said, sticking his head around the door.

"Who is?" Sonny asked.

T sighed, "Will…." He said, "You know the guy who used to be your best friend , the guy you have been avoiding for the last week."

Sonny looked up at T surprised. "Who said I have been avoiding Will?" he asked.

"It's pretty obvious." T said. "You come back here and hide in your office everyday around the time that Will usually drops in for his coffee…. You tell us that you don't want to be disturbed for anyone or anything, and that we should tell anyone who asks about you that you are gone for the day."

"Yeah…. So?" Sonny asked. "Maybe I just don't want to be around people."

"Maybe you just don't want to be around certain people." T countered.

"Mind your own business." Sonny said, "Don't you have work to do?"

"Yeah, I guess I do." T said. "I just wanted to let you know Will had come and gone, you know in case you wanted to get out of this office."

"Well thanks for that." Sonny said, "It would be very helpful, if I were avoiding Will…. Which I am not."

"Fine." T said, ducking out of the office closing the door behind him.

Sonny looked at the closed door and threw down his pen in disgust. He didn't think he had been being that obvious. It wasn't necessarily that he was avoiding Will per say…. He was more avoiding listening to Will gush about his date with Paul. He didn't know if he could stomach hearing about it. And he knew firsthand how charming Paul could be when he wanted to be.

He picked up his pen again, forcing himself to continue working on the books. He was going to get it finished before leaving, if it killed him. The last thing he wanted to do was prove T right by leaving the sanctity of his office right now.

When he was finally done and the books were balanced he looked at the clock, it was just after Six PM. Brian would be getting in around seven or so and Sonny wanted to cook him dinner. Things had been pretty good between them since they returned from their little weekend trip. They had been able to reconnect and Sonny felt like they were in a good place right now. He just had to keep reminding himself that Will was his friend and nothing more and he had no business trying to tell him how to lead his life.

Paul was lounging on his bed. The television in the room was on, but he wasn't paying it much attention. His mind was on Will and their upcoming date. He was already anxious to see him again. He had even contemplated 'running into him' somehow.

Bowling and Pizza with Will had been amazing, it had been carefree and fun, and Will had proven himself to be a very caring individual. Clearly he had not been thinking about his own health when he had chosen bowling for a date, but Will had been thoughtful enough to find him a lighter bowling ball that was easier on his arm.

Now he was trying to come up with something that was just as fun but less taxing, especially since he was going to be spending the whole weekend at the baseball camp. His shoulder was sore and he wasn't sure how much he was actually going to be able to do, but he wanted to do his best.

There wasn't a lot to do in Salem that wasn't physical. There were batting cages, rock climbing, bowling, golf, mini golf….. but there was no theatre… well there was a movie theater but nothing like Broadway, no opera, no comedy club, there was a dance club, but he wasn't really a fan of going to the club on a date. Besides if Will started dancing against him, he would probably burst into flames right there on the dance floor. His mind still went crazy every single time he thought about that kiss at Will's door.

He guessed it would just have to be dinner and a movie. Well…. It wasn't perfect but it was traditional if nothing else.

He looked at the clock. Just after Eight PM. Will should still be awake. He decided to text him the plans for Friday night and just say good night. He picked up his phone and scrolled till he found Will's name.

"Still awake?" he texted the simple question.

"Yes, actually working on my article about you." Will's reply was almost immediate.

"Oh? How is it going?" Paul asked, secretly pleased that Will was thinking about him too, even if it was due to the article.

"Really good I think" Will answered.

"I didn't mean to disturb you, I just wanted to ask if dinner and a movie are okay with you for our date on Friday?" Paul texted back quickly.

"You aren't disturbing me at all. And Dinner and a movie sound awesome." Will answered.

"Okay, goodnight then." Paul texted back.

"Goodnight." Will sent back.

Paul smiled and laid his phone aside. He picked up the remote and switched off the TV he was too keyed up to sleep now and it was early anyway so he decided to go out for a run. He changed into some sweats and pulled on his tennis shoes.

He grabbed a towel and threw It around his neck, leaving the unit and taking the elevator down stairs to the lobby. He left the hotel and jogged down the block past the row of quaint little shops, down another block and into the park, where he jogged around the trail a few times. It felt good to be getting some exercise and pushing his body past it limits again. He hadn't really put forth an honest effort since his surgery. He knew that he had been bitter about things, but he was finally getting past it.

He was running out of steam, his pace slowing to a crawl. He stopped and wiped his face with his towel and turned and started back toward the hotel. He was exiting the park, thinking that Will's apartment was just on the other side. He could just drop in on him….

No, he couldn't now it had to be after Ten PM and he had a baby…. He was wrapped up in that thought when he literally bumped into someone.

"Excuse me." He said reaching out to steady the young woman.

"It's okay." She said looking up at him.

Paul recognized her immediately as the girl from Will's apartment.

"Abby? Right?" he said.

She nodded. "Yeah. Hello Paul." She said.

"Nice to see you again." He said politely. "Please forgive me for near about knocking you down."

"No worries." She said. "What are you doing out this late?"

"Just running, catching up on exercise." He said. "What about you, is it safe for such a beautiful young woman to be out here alone this late?" He asked.

"I was just cutting through on my way home." She said.

"Let me escort you then." Paul said, determined to get her to like him.

"No, really it's okay." She said. "It's only a few blocks."

"I insist." Paul said, stepping out of the way for her to lead the way.

She walked ahead of him and he easily caught up with her. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes until Paul broke the silence.

"So the other night, I got the impression that you don't like me much." He said.

"It's nothing personal." She said. "I guess I am just reserving judgment."

"Until?" Paul asked.

"Until I see if you treat Will right or not." She said honestly.

"Why wouldn't I?" Paul said curiously.

"I don't know, Will is one of the best, most sincere men that I know, but he has been hurt a lot." She said.

"Sonny?" Paul asked.

She glanced at him, surprised. "He told you about that?"

"We talked about old ghosts." Paul said, a guilty feeling stirring in his mind. He knew he hadn't been 100% honest with Will about his ghost. But it hadn't seemed appropriate to say "Yeah I guess the same guy broke both of our hearts." So he had kept his mouth shut. Eventually he would have to tell Will before things got too serious.

"Just be good to him, Okay, he had been through enough." she said, stopping in front of the walkway of a small house. "This is me." She pointed, indicating the house. "Thanks for escorting me home."

"No problem." Paul grinned. "Have a good night."

"You too." He said turning back the way he had come.

Clearly Will had a loving and protective family. He envied him that. It made him want to go back to the hotel and call his mom and his grandfather. He knew he had something to tell them before the rest of the world found out. He just hoped they would be as supporting and loving as Will's family seemed to be.

Will looked at the clock, It was after Ten PM but Will knew that Sonny would still be awake, on any other Wednesday night he would be the one closing down the club. He also knew it was late to be texting or calling anyone, but it had been a long time since he had gone almost a week without talking to Sonny and he hadn't heard from him since the day he had told Will it wasn't a good idea to go out with Paul. But surely Sonny couldn't be still mad about that could he?

He picked up his phone.

"Hey stranger, long time, no talk." He typed in and pressed send.

He laid the phone to the side and went to brush his teeth. Then he changed into his sweats and went back to the bedroom. He had just climbed under the covers when his phone beeped. He picked it up and opened the text message.

"Hey, sorry it has been a hectic week." Sonny replied.

"It's okay, just wanted to check on you, have been by the club a few times this week, you haven't been there." He answered back.

It was a few minutes more before there was a reply.

"Been spending a lot of time at home, Brian is getting ready to start his residency, neither of us knows how much he will be able to be home then." Sonny sent back.

"Gotcha. You going to be at the club tomorrow?" he asked.

Ten minutes passed by…..

"Yeah for a little while in the morning." Sonny answered

"Great, I will come by for coffee in the morning before class." Will sent back

"See you then." Sonny responded.

Will laid the phone down on the bedside table and turned over to go to sleep. Sonny just didn't seem like himself. Even his texts seemed off somehow. Hopefully he would be able to figure out what was wrong in the morning.

With that thought in mind he drifted off to sleep…


	8. Chapter 8

Thursday morning Will dressed in a hurry, and got Arianna ready in record time, texting Marlena and asking if she could meet him at Club TBD to pick up Ari for the day instead of coming to the apartment. Once he got her confirmation he buckled Ari into the stroller and picked up her diaper bag, before he walked out the door.

He made it to the club in just less than fifteen minutes. He opened the door and pushed the stroller in. He looked around expectantly. He saw Lauren behind the counter but he did not see Sonny anywhere.

He walked up to the counter and ordered a coffee and a blueberry muffin. While he waited for her to get his order together, he asked about Sonny.

"Sonny here yet?" he asked her.

"Not yet." She said. "He has been coming in late though."

"Yeah and leaving early." Will said.

She shrugged her shoulders at him, handed him his order and took the pro offered money, dropping into the till.

Will went over and took the seat that he used to occupy, when he used to spend the biggest portion of his time here.

He broke apart the muffin and pinched off a small bite. He pulled out his laptop and attempted to work some more on the article about Paul. As it always did, when he was writing time got away from him and Marlena startled when she dropped into the booth opposite of him.

She immediately took Ari from her stroller and cuddled her. "How is my favorite princess today?" she crooned, kissing the baby on her forehead.

"Hello to you too, grandma." Will teased.

"Good morning" she said smiling at him. "How are you today?"

"Good Grandma. It has been a fabulous week." He revealed.

"Sounds interesting." She said. "Anything you want to tell me about?"

"Not yet." Will said. "But soon, if things continue to go well."

"Fair enough." She said. "I better get this girl home, it looks like it may come a flood out there."

"Thanks for meeting me Grandma." Will said, "I am waiting for Sonny to get here and then I have to get to class."

"Alright then dear, see you this afternoon." She said.

Will stood taking Arianna, he kissed her good bye before buckling her back in her stroller for Marlena.

After they were gone he looked at his watch. If Sonny didn't show soon, Will knew he was going to be late for his class. He sat back down and started shutting down his computer. With the exception of a few minor changes and corrections he was about done with the article. He placed his laptop back in his carrier bag and finished his breakfast, but there was still no sign of Sonny.

Will looked at his phone, expecting to have a text explaining what had happened or a missed call or something, but there was nothing. He got up and walked over to the counter to speak to Lauren again.

"Lauren, have you heard from Sonny?" he asked.

"No nothing." She said, looking at Will sympathetically.

He went back to the table, he was determined to see Sonny today, and if Sonny wasn't going to come to the club then he would just have to go by his apartment.

Will grabbed his bag and left the club. He hurried over to the apartment building Sonny had moved into with Brian. He went up to the Fourth floor and knocked on the door.

It was a couple of minutes before Brian pulled the door open. "Will, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Is Sonny home?" Will said, ignoring the other man's question.

"He is still in bed." Brian said. "We both were." He said pointedly… he sighed when Will didn't take the hint and leave. "Come on in and have a seat and I will get him for you." He groused, stepping back allowing him entrance into the apartment.

Will walked in and closed the door behind him. He sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and held his bag in his lap. This was the last place that he should be. He had broken out into a cold sweat. This was a bad idea.

After a few minutes, Sonny shuffled out of the bedroom in a pair of pajama bottoms with no shirt. "Will what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I uhhhh…. Wanted to make sure you are okay." Will mumbled. "You were supposed to meet me at the club this morning."

"Oh God… Will, I'm really sorry I completely forgot." Sonny said. "We were up late and I uhhhh overslept."

"Sorry Will, guess that would have been my fault." Brian said triumphantly, he pulled Sonny closed and kissed his neck, "I kept him up waay past midnight, and woke him up before daylight this morning."

Sonny twisted out of his embrace and glared at Brian. "I was going to just go in later today Will. I am really sorry you were worried."

"It's okay…" Will stammered. "I will just talk to you later on. Sorry to bother you." He mumbled, getting up and throwing his bag on his shoulder. He made a beeline for the door, rushing out without even closing it behind him.

Once Will was out of sight, Sonny swung the door closed, and wheeled around on Brian. "Was that necessary?" he asked.

"What?" Brian asked innocently.

"Don't give me that." Sonny snapped, "You were deliberately taunting Will."

"I was not." Brian said. "What is the problem Sonny, don't you think that Will knows that we sleep together?"

"I'm sure he does," Sonny said "But there is no need to twist the knife."

"If Will doesn't like the facts, then he shouldn't have come here. I am not going to downplay our relationship for him, and you shouldn't either. It just makes things more difficult for Will to accept it." Brian said.

"I don't downplay anything, I just don't shove unnecessary details into anyone's face." Sonny railed.

"Fine…. Agree to disagree." Brian said. "We had a great night last night, an amazing morning…. before we were interrupted… I don't want to fight."

"I want you to promise me that you won't do anything like that again. EVER!" Sonny said. "I want you to respect that Will is my friend and put a little trust in me."

"I will put a little trust in you, when you stop hiding things from me." Brian said.

"What did I hide from you?" Sonny asked. "I am trying here, but you have to meet me half way."

"Yeah you are trying…. Will is trying….. Everyone is trying here, everyone but me…. I just underestimated him, that's all, I never figured he would come here, when you didn't show up…."

"What are you talking about?" Sonny asked. He quickly put two and two together in his head. "Last night…. You were reading my text messages when I come from brushing my teeth weren't you." Sonny's voice was rising with every word. "You knew Will asked me to meet him this morning and you made it your mission to make sure that I didn't make it. DIDN'T YOU?" he said practically screaming now.

"Yes." Brian said without shame. "I read them. It has been such a great week for us and I didn't want Will to intrude on that."

"Will happens to live in this town." Sonny said incredulously. "Even if we weren't friends we are going to run into each other from time to time."

"But you don't need to be planning secret meetings with him." Brian spat out.

"Well since you read the fucking text messages you should know that Will said he was dropping by the club for a cup of coffee before class. Lord forbid we have a PRIVATE meeting in the club with my employees and all the other customers in the morning rush." He said sarcastically.

"OKAY FINE," Brian shouted back, "Maybe I overreacted a little."

"Brian…. This is going to tear us apart, can't you see that. I am doing my best to keep us on track but I need your help." He said.

"I don't know what to do." Brian admitted.

"Neither do I." Sonny said sadly.

Will went straight back to his apartment. He was in no shape to go to class. He should never have gone to Sonny's apartment. He was ill feeling, nauseated and sweating.

He and Sonny were done. He knew it, had accepted it…. He was even moving on with his own life. But he felt like he had been sucker punched when Brian made it a point to make sure he knew they were still in bed together.

Will knew what it was like to be with Sonny, to love him, and to be loved by him. He could remember in vivid detail every single moment he had ever spent in Sonny's arms, in his bed. Being with Sonny was a happiness that he had never known…. Not before Sonny… and not since they had broken up.

He dropped his messenger bag just inside the door and blindly went straight to his bedroom. He climbed in the middle of the bed and curled up into the fetal position, and he just let it out, all of the pent up emotions that had been building within him over the last year and a half.

He had never let himself cry after finding out that Sonny was going to marry Brian. He figured that he was getting what he deserved after he lied time after time. So he had taken the punishment like a man. He had not cried, not one single tear. Now that damn had burst and loud ragged sobs ripped from him. He cried until there was nothing left… all the hurt and pain was purged and he was left with nothing but a cold empty feeling.

At some point he must have fell asleep, because he woke later to the late afternoon sun streaming through the window. He was still curled up in the same position. He moved and his muscles groaned in protest. His eyes felt like sandpaper, his throat not much better, and his head felt like there was someone in there swinging a sledgehammer. Will groaned and closed his eyes again, determined not to move, however his bladder demanded otherwise. He got up and stumbled to the bathroom, then got a few ibuprofens out of the medicine cabinet and took them with water straight from the tap.

He looked at the alarm clock and realized that he was supposed to be picking Arianna up from his grandmothers in less than a half hour. He knew he needed a shower and wasn't going to make it. He needed to let her know, so he reached for his phone in his back pocket, but didn't find it there. He remembered that he had dropped it in his bag this morning.

He opened the bedroom door, wondering how it got closed in the first place. He went out into the living room and was startled to see Abigail sitting on the couch, text book in her lap and Arianna asleep on the couch beside her.

She looked up when he walked into the room. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like shit." He answered truthfully. "What are you doing here?"

"Sonny called me." She said. "He asked if I would check on you. So I went and got this little lady and came right over."

"Wow, how gallant of him." Will said snidely. "I guess I owe him one."

"I'm sorry Will." She said softly. "Why don't I put Ari in her crib and make you some coffee and we can talk about it."

"I'll take her." Will said. He bent down and scooped his baby girl off the couch, cuddling her close and kissing her softly. He carried her into the nursery and laid her down. Then he got the baby monitor and turned it on, taking it into the living room.

He sank down on the couch and laid his head back against the cushion. He tried to rationalize the events of the morning with himself. He knew that very little of what happened this morning was on Sonny… He was the one who had lied and pushed Sonny into Brian's arms, He was the one that avoided seeing Brian and Sonny together as much as possible so he wouldn't have to face reality, he was the one that made the decision to go over to Sonny's apartment this morning, without stopping to think that Brian may be there. And Brian was the one that made sure that Will knew exactly why Sonny had forgotten that he had plans with Will. So there was really no reason for him to be upset with Sonny.

"Soooo…. What happened?" Abigail asked sitting down beside Will, handing him a steaming hot cup of liquid.

Will gave her the short version on the events of the morning, leaving out the part about him crying and sobbing like an baby.

"WOW" Abigail said. "That sucks. Brian is a real asshole. Kinda seems like he has a bad jealous streak to me."

Will shrugged….. "I guess." He said. "I did ask Sonny to meet me at the club this morning, but I just wanted to talk to him, I haven't seen him all week and I had so much to tell him."

"About Paul?" Abigail asked, changing the direction of the conversation.

"Yeah." Will said. "I had a really good time with him last weekend, and for the first time in a long time I felt something besides dread…. When I was out with someone else. I wanted to share that with my best friend."

"What do you mean dread?" Abigail asked.

"Well you know I have dated Neil on and off…." Will said.

Abigail nodded…. Yes she knew that….

"I always dreaded it when it was time to go out. Neil was a nice guy…. Kind of handsy at times, but nice. Anyway, I would be flattered when he would ask, I would accept…. And then when the day of the date arrived, I would spend the whole day trying to think up and excuse to cancel…. And I always found a way to end it early. He would get frustrated with me, but he kept asking… So I kept accepting."

"OH." Abigail said. "And it wasn't like that with Paul?" she asked.

"No." Will said. "Not at all, I couldn't wait for Saturday to get here…. And then Saturday, I didn't want it to end."

"Sounds like you really like him." She observed.

Will nodded. "I do, it's too bad I have to cancel our date tomorrow night." He said.

"Why would you do that?" Abigail asked confused.

"Well obviously judging by my reaction today. I am not over Sonny…. And I don't want to make a mess out of this relationship. I will just explain to him, and hopefully when I am over Sonny he will still be around." Will said.

"I don't think you need to do that at all." Abigail said. "Will you are allowed to feel pain, and what Brian did would have affected even the strongest person. Let yourself have this happiness Will, you have to know and accept that you deserve it."

Will looked at her. "You really think so?" he asked.

"Absolutely." Abigail said. "I like this guy Will, I saw him last night in the park, he walked me home because it was late and he was concerned about me. It was really sweet."

"That sounds like something he would do." Will said. "Did I tell you he opened the car doors for me?" he said, still amazed at that small fact.

"He is a real gentleman." She agreed. "So keep your date… understand?"

"I am keeping the date." Will said. "Let's hope he isn't too much of a gentleman…." He said wiggling his eye brows at her… feeling better already, maybe exactly what he needed was to replace the memories that he had of his time with Sonny, with new ones….. with Paul.


	9. Chapter 9

"So…" Paul said as he held the car door open for Will. "You know this town better than I do, where do you like to eat? I thought about making reservations in that fancy restaurant in town but it didn't really feel right. We can go there though if you want of course, I am sure they could find us a table." He rambled on suddenly feeling self conscious.

"I would rather we didn't." Will said. "The food is good but it's too fancy for me. I am more of a Tee shirt and jeans kind of guy."

"I could see that about you. So where ever you want is fine with me." Paul said closing the door and walking around the car.

"I know just the place." Will said. "It's just outside of town, if that isn't too far."

"Will." Paul said, looking over at him as he pulled out of the parking lot. "New York isn't too far, if that's where you want to go."

Will smiled and quickly gave him directions to the restaurant.

Paul followed the directions, and soon they were parked in the small parking lot of a restaurant that looked like it was once a house.

"So what are they going to feed me in here?" Paul asked as he opened the door for Will.

"Just the best barbeque that you have ever eaten." Will said.

"Ahh." Paul said. "Okay let's see what they got. You know I have travelled all over the world, I have had barbeque in a lot of places."

"This will be the best." Will said confidently.

They went in. The dining area was small, and the little square tables, covered in red checkered table cloths were positioned so close together that they were almost touching each other. Will led Paul over to the corner table and they sat down.

It was a couple minutes before a waitress appeared and offered them menus. "What can I get you to drink?" She asked.

Paul ordered a beer, while Will asked for water with lemon.

"So what's good here?" Paul asked, looking at the menu.

Will looked up at him over the menu. "Everything…. Duh…" he teased.

Paul laughed… "I guess I walked into that."

"You did." Will confirmed.

Paul looked at all the choices and finally settled on the rib platter, while Will couldn't decide and ended up getting the sampler platter.

"So how was your week?" Paul asked when they had ordered, and gotten their food.

"Honestly…." Will said, "It was the best week, and the worst week that I have had in a long time."

"Why the best and the worst?" Paul asked.

"Weeellll" Will said drawing the word out. "You were the best part and I really don't want to talk about the worst part if that's okay."

"Whatever makes you happy." Paul said.

"Thanks." Will said.

"So tell me something about you that I don't know." Paul said.

"Ummm Okay…" Will said, thinking about all the things that he had already told Paul about himself. "I'm not a big fan of broccoli….. in fact I really hate it."

Paul giggled… "Really Will… thanks for that tip, I will remember to never take you to a restaurant that strictly serves broccoli."

Will blushed a deep crimson color. "Sorry." He said, "I have no idea what else to tell you, since you already know the big parts."

"Tell me about your parents." Paul said, guiding the conversation.

"Oh GOD…" Will groaned, "They are a train wreck."

"They can't be that bad." Paul said.

"Oh you don't know the half of it." Will said. "My mom and dad split up when I was little. They played tug of war with me most of my childhood… until my dad went to live in Hong Kong for a while. My mom is …. Well she is a force all of her own, AND she is married to EJ Dimera."

"Is your dad back in the states now?" Paul asked.

Will nodded. "Yeah. He lives here in Salem now, he works with my Grandma Kate, that's his mom, at Countess Wilhelmina cosmetics."

"Do you have any siblings?" Paul asked, wanting to keep Will talking.

"I had four, but my baby sister passed away. So I have three now. Allie is my sister and Johnnie and Sidney are my half brother and sister." Will answered.

"How old are they?" Paul asked.

"Sidney is 6 years old, and Allie and Johnnie are 8 years old. Will said around a mouth full of food.

"Allie and Johnnie are both eight?" Paul asked.

"Yeah, they are twins." Will said.

"But I thought you said that Allie was your only full blood sibling?" Paul asked confused.

Will nodded. "I did…. They have different fathers."

Paul opened his mouth to ask another question but Will held his hand up….. "Don't ask please." He said. "I'm sorry, I forgot for a minute that you aren't from here."

Paul shook his head…. "You have led an interesting life Will Horton." He said.

"Can't argue that." Will said.

"What about Arianna's mother. I remember that you said you two were able to maintain a friendship after you broke up. Are you still friends." Paul said, moving on to another topic.

"Yes." Will answered simply.

"Then why are you raising Arianna alone? Did she marry that creep you told me about the other day?" Paul asked.

"That would be a no." Will said. Not sure if he wanted to elaborate on that or not.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Paul asked.

"No." Will said. "It's just that Gabi is in jail."

"Jail?" Paul asked.

"Well prison really." Will said. "It's a long story, that I will tell you sometime."

Paul took the hint and let the subject drop.

They continued through the meal, Paul peppering him with questions about his childhood and college life, and Will answering the best he could. It had been a long time since someone had shown so much interest in him.

The waitress came back to clear the plates away and offered them dessert, which they both refused. They walked out into the night and Paul turned to Will, "So have you thought about what movie you want to see?" he asked.

"Not really." Will said. "I don't even know what's playing."

"Me either." Paul admitted. "We can just choose when we get there."

Will nodded his agreement. They drove over to the Cineplex.

When they walked up to the box office, they looked at the posters advertising the movies that were playing.

"Soooo… Action…. Drama…..Comedy… Horror…. Chick flick…Cartoon….. what is your pleasure?" Paul asked, looking over at Will.

"Really they all look great, but comedy works for me." Will said.

"Okay." Paul said stepping up and buying two tickets for the comedy movie.

Once he had the tickets, they walked into the lobby of the theater and were hit by the overwhelming smell of freshly popped popcorn.

"Popcorn?" Paul asked, though he could not imagine where they would put it.

Will scrunched his nose up…. "No… I'm full, he said, but I will take some candy."

Paul smiled at him. "Something tells me you have a sweet tooth." He teased, as he pulled Will up to the counter.

Will looked through the glass into the candy counter, and contemplated his choices…

Paul smiled at the clerk behind the counter as he waited for Will to choose, she looked at him, "Are you Paul Narita?" She asked timidly.

"Yes I am he said." He said. "And you are?"

"I thought so…." She said. "I'm Amanda. My boyfriend is a huge fan, he has drug me to a million of your games. He will just die when he finds out you were here." She gushed.

"What's your boyfriend's name?" Paul asked as he looked down at the counter and picked up the pen used for signing credit card slips and one of the sleeves that they put the small orders of pop corn in.

"Michael." She said watching him carefully.

Paul quickly scrawled a message on the paper and signed his name. "Be sure to tell him that I said Thanks for the support." He said handing it to her.

"Wow! Thank you." She said.

Will watched the exchange, not sure how he was supposed to act now that Paul had been recognized. He didn't want to make him uncomfortable or put him in an awkward position.

Paul looked over at him, "Did you decide what you want babe?" he asked.

Will glanced up and saw the shock register on the clerks' face, before she composed herself and smiled brightly at him.

"Umm can I get the candy coated almonds?" Will asked. She nodded and opened the counter, pulling out a box and handing them to Will.

"Thanks." Will mumbled, taking them from her.

"Anything else?" she asked. Will shook his head no and Paul declined the offer. He pulled his wallet from his pocket but she waved it away. "No, I got the candy… thank you so much for the autograph. Mike is going to go ballistic."

"You're very welcome." Paul said dropping the money into the tip jar in front of her register.

They took their tickets and walked to the auditorium. It was practically deserted still. Paul looked at Will, ever the gentleman. "Where do you like to sit?" he asked.

"At the top." Will said.

"Okay." Paul said taking his hand and leading the way.

They got to the top of the stadium seating and Paul led Will to the center seats. They sat down and Will opened his candy offering Paul one before he popped one into his own mouth.

"That was a nice thing you did for the cashier out there." Will said.

"I always like to do what I can for the fans." Paul said. "They take time out of their lives to support my dream."

"That's true I guess." Will said.

"Besides it probably won't happen for much longer, I guess I may as well enjoy it while I can." Paul said, wistfully.

"People are going to recognize you and ask for your autograph for years to come." Will said.

"Maybe…. Maybe not…." Paul said, "It doesn't seem to matter much to me anymore."

The lights dimmed, and the previews started… effectively cutting off any further conversation about it.

Paul watched Will more than he watched the movie, but he did manage to catch a few of the funniest parts.

The movie was about half over when Will sensed Paul watching him. He turned his head and his eyes met Paul's "What?" he asked.

"Nothing." Paul whispered.

"You sure?" Will asked.

Paul nodded, "Just looking at how handsome my date is." He said.

Paul could see the blush creep up Will's face, even in the dime light of the theater.

He hadn't meant to embarrass Will, but he was looking extra good tonight. He had worn dark washed denim jeans that weren't quite painted on, but they also didn't leave much to the imagination either, and a light cornflower blue polo that nearly matched his eyes perfectly.

Will looked away as a ripple of laughter filled the room. And Paul saw the corners of his mouth lift up in a smile. He reached over and took Will's hand in his and pulled it into his lap. He just held it there running his fingers over Will's skin.

Paul forgot to pay attention to the screen, and before he knew it the lights come on and the credits were rolling up the screen.

Will looked over at him. "That was great." He said.

"Mmmhmmm" Paul agreed absently.

They got up and walked out of the auditorium hand in hand. Will dropped the candy box in the trash can as he passed by.

They went back to the car and Paul drove them back to Will's apartment building. When he parked he turned in his seat to look at Will.

"Thanks for going out with me again Will. I really enjoy spending time with you." He said.

"I enjoy spending time with you too." Will said.

"When can I see you again?" Paul asked.

Will pretended to think about it….. then give him a devilish look. "In the morning silly." He said.

For one brief moment Paul's pulse raced and his blood heated in his veins until he realized that Will was talking about the charity weekend.

"Oh right." He said. It was his turn to be embarrassed. "I forgot."

"We are going to be spending the weekend together basically." Will said.

"Sounds like an awesome weekend to me." Paul said. "Come on, I will walk you to your door."

He got out and went around the car, opening Will's door for him. He linked their hands together as they walked into the building.

"Do you want me to pick you up in the morning?" Paul asked.

"Do you mind?" Will asked.

"Nope." Paul said.

"That would be great then." Will said, pleased that Paul wanted to spend so much time with him.

They stopped in front of Will's door, and he was suddenly nervous. Part of him wanted to invite Paul in, but the other part of him wasn't sure he was ready for that.

He looked at Paul, "Thanks again for tonight." He said. "Tomorrow I will bring the article for you to read."

"Uh-Uh, we will talk about that tomorrow." Paul said, putting his hands on Will's waist "Right now, all I want to concentrate on is kissing you goodnight if that's okay."

"Totally fine." Will whispered as Paul pulled him forward. His hands slid around Will's waist, connecting their bodies. His hands dropped down low on Will's hips. His fingers itched to slide under Will's shirt and explore his chest and back.

"Good." Paul whispered just before their lips met.

Paul's tongue glided over Will's lips, parting them and slipping inside, exploring every nook and cranny of Will's mouth, sliding over his teeth, tangling with his tongue.

Will kissed him back, giving as much as he was receiving. Moving in close and fitting their bodies even closer together. His hands going to Paul's hair, tugging his mouth closer.

Paul could not bite back the groan at the contact of Will's lower body to his. He wanted nothing more than to scoop Will up and take him back to the hotel with him, the only thing holding him back was he didn't want Will to think that was all he was interested in.

With great discipline Paul separated their bodies and untangled their arms. "Good night Will." He whispered, hurrying off down the hall before he changed his mind.

Will watched him go and then opened the door and went into his apartment. This time Abigail was awake and waiting for him on the couch.

"Where's Paul?" She asked.

"He is gone." He answered looking dazed.

"WOW!" Abby said, "Guess he is a bigger gentlemen than you wanted him to be huh." She teased.

"Shut up!" Will laughed. "I didn't invite him in. It was only our second date."

"That's right!" Abby said, "Better wait till at least the third…. That way you don't seem desperate." She laughed, ducking behind a couch cushion as Will lobbed a stuffed animal from Ari's basket at her.

"You are evil, Abigail Deveraux" he said.


	10. Chapter 10

It was Sunday afternoon and it had been one hectic weekend. He had seen Paul one way over yesterday morning and on the way home last night and then again this morning, but not in between. Paul had been in demand every second that he was here.

The kids were beside themselves when Paul stepped up to the microphone to address them yesterday morning. Paul had devoted every minute to them. He showed them how to properly throw a ball, and how to hold a bat. He even threw a few pitches. Not many, but enough for Will to see firsthand how much he loved it. Then after lunch he signed endless autographs and took a million and one pictures. Will knew he much be exhausted, but he never complained, not one time.

Will left Paul covered in kids and ducked into the make shift cafeteria that had been set up. He pulled out his laptop and opened it up, then sat it down on the make shift table top and opened up a new word document. He went to typing furiously. He had an idea for his follow up article and he didn't want to lose it. It had been floating around in his mind all day, but he had been hard pressed to find a few minutes to himself so that he could get it on paper. Paul had been happy with the article that he had put together talking about his recent injury and the surgery that followed. He told Will to come up with something announcing his retirement from baseball. Will had called his editor who was more than happy to have one exclusive article featuring Paul Narita, never mind two, he gave Will free reign on the story.

He was so lost in thought that he was startled when Paul sat down beside him and looked at the screen. "What did you sneak back here to do?" he asked.

"Hey!" Will said. "I had an idea for the next article and I wanted to get it down before I forgot."

"Will, relax… your first article isn't even coming out until in the morning, you have plenty of time to work on the second one." Paul said, rubbing Will's shoulders.

"I know." Will said. "It was just a really good idea."

"All of your ideas are good ideas." Paul teased.

"Thanks." Will said chuckling. "What are you doing in here?" he asked. "I didn't think you were going to be free for at least two or three more hours."

"I'm not… not really." Paul said, "But I told John I had to duck in here to grab a snack."

"Oh!" Will said. "You're hungry, let's see what we can find."

"No… I'm not hungry." Paul said, but I knew you were in here."

"Hmmmm" Will said. "You were looking for me?"

"Yeah, I have been dying to kiss you all day." Paul said.

Will's eyes widened at the admission. "Oh." He said again.

"Come on." Paul said, grabbing Will's hand and pulling him up. He led him back to the deserted kitchen. He closed the door behind them and pulled Will close. "I haven't been able to think about anything other than the feel of your lips against mine, and the taste of you on my tongue since last night when I left your apartment." He whispered against Will's ear.

"Ummm…. Maybe we shouldn't do this here." Will said, trying to extract himself from Paul's grasp. "Someone may see us."

"I don't care who sees us." Paul said. "I just don't want to be interrupted."

"Oh." Will said again.

Paul laughed, "Will if you say that one more time, I am going to wonder if you lost the ability to speak the English language."

Will groaned. "Sorry…" he said, "I guess I just don't know what to say."

"Say you want to kiss me too." Paul suggested.

"God yesss….." Will breathed out.

"Good." Paul said, "That's all the encouragement I need."

Paul pulled Will flush against his body and fit their mouths together. His tongue immediately slipping past Will's already parted lips, dueling with Wills.

Will groaned into his mouth, clutching Paul closer, wrapping his arms around him tightly. He felt Paul's fingers dig into his hip bones.

Paul's mouth left Will's, his lips travelling down the column of his neck, tasting the skin there. Will shuddered involuntarily, and leaned his head back giving Paul more room to explore.

Will whined when Paul's teeth nipped his collar bone. "Paul…." He gasped.

"Hmmmmmm." Paul said, his mouth never leaving Will's skin.

"They are going to be looking for you." Will groaned.

"Let them look." He said, moving to Wills ear pulling the lobe into his mouth and sucking on it.

Will was getting pretty worked up, he hadn't been with anyone at all since Sonny, and he was dangerously close to begging Paul to take him right then and there.

Paul's fingers urged Will's hips into a rhythm against his own. "Yesssss." Will hissed.

"HEY PAUL!" John's voice broke through the spell that surrounded them. They broke apart and Will turned to face the counter, trying to get his raging hormones under control.

"Did you find that snack?" John asked as he strode through the door.

"Uh yeah." Paul replied, "I was just about to come and find you."

"Good." John said, "You had better take a minute or two to get… settled. And then I will see you out there."

Paul nodded, looking down at himself, he knew there was no doubt in John Black's mind about what had been going on in the kitchen. Not that he cared.

He turned to Will. "I'm so sorry." He said.

Will turned to face him. "I should be the one saying sorry to you." Will said.

"I told you, I don't care who knows, or who sees me kissing you." Paul said. "I just don't want you to ever be embarrassed because of anything that I have done."

"The only thing I am embarrassed about is my lack of control." Will said sheepishly.

"I have to get back out there…. But I want to take you to dinner after this if that's okay." Paul said.

"I will call Abigail and see if she can stay with Arrianna for while longer." Will agreed.

"Great!" Paul said, pressing one more quick kiss to Will's lips before he turned to go out.

Will watched him go and wondered if going to dinner with him tonight was a good idea, if Paul kissed him like that again, no telling what would happen between them. But Will decided it was worth the risk.

He picked up his phone and found Abigail's name in the contact list. "Hey, do you have plans for tonight?" he texted to her.

"Nothing that I can't do here." She answered him back.

"Studying?" Will asked to clarify.

"Yes and watching the Nicholas Sparks movie marathon on TV tonight." She sent back.

"Great, Paul is taking me to dinner after this and I will be home right after." Will said.

"Sounds good. Have fun." Abigail sent back.

Will texted Paul that the dinner plans were good to go and then went back in the cafeteria to pack up his laptop. He was dropping it into the bag when Marlena came in and sat down across from him.

"Hey there." She said.

"Hi Grandma." Will replied. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Will said.

"Uh-huh." She said, "You know what I think though?" She asked Will.

"What?" Will asked cautiously.

"I think you are doing better than good." She answered. "In fact, I think that you are doing great…. And I think that is all courtesy of Paul Narita."

"John told you?" Will asked.

"He mentioned to me that Paul was in the cafeteria, sneaking in a private moment or two with someone that I just may know." She clarified.

"That's as bad as telling you." Will said smiling.

"I just wonder why you didn't tell me yourself. That is pretty exciting news."

Will could practically hear the hurt in her voice. "I was going to tell you grandma." He explained, "I just wanted to be sure it is going to last before, I told anyone, and Paul is not out publicly, so there's that."

"That's makes me nervous." Marlena said warily.

"He is going to come out." Will said quickly. "In fact I am going to write the article."

"Do you really think that is a good idea?" she asked skeptically.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Will asked.

"I'm not sure." She admitted. "It may turn out just fine… but he could end up resenting you in the long run, especially if he isn't ready to do this."

"This was his idea grandma." Will said. "This isn't something that I asked or encouraged him to do. He asked me to do it."

Marlena could see that Will's mind was made up about this, so she let it drop. Switching gears, she asked another question. "So how is it, dating a famous ball player?" she asked.

Will's eyes lit up… "Paul is amazing, I don't know how it is to date someone famous… he has only been recognized once while we were together and he was really graceful about it… signing an autograph for the girls boyfriend and everything. But he has been great, we are having a lot of fun together." He gushed.

"I can see that you really like him." She said smiling.

Will nodded, "I do." He agreed.

"Well as long as he treats you right." Marlena said.

"He does." Will said. "He has been nothing but a gentleman."

"Now that's not exactly what I heard." She teased.

Will blushed and ducked his head. "That's not what I mean grandma…. He opens doors for me and walks me to my door. He pays attention when I talk and looks at me like I am the only other person in the room. He even puts his hand on my back and escorts me into a room, like he is protecting me… which sounds silly…" he said stopping mid sentence. "We are both guys….. so I don't need protecting…. But it makes me feel…." Will stopped… searching for a word that was appropriate.

"Loved…. Desired….. Wanted….. Treasured…." Marlena suggested.

Unable to pick just one of those, Will nodded. "Yeah." He agreed.

"That's wonderful, Will." She said, meaning it. "Those are all things that you deserve to feel, and maybe you don't need to be protected, but it never hurts to know that there is someone that would put themselves in front of you, if there were ever a need."

"Thanks Grandma." He said.

"Anytime." She said… "Now I have to get out of here and drop by the hospital to see a patient. See you later dear."

"Bye grandma." Will said, still mulling over what she had said. He sat there for a while, waiting for Paul to get finished with the last event of the day.

Eventually he got up and made his way out to where everyone was gathered. Paul was standing in front of the kids who were all settled on blankets on the grass, brandishing a microphone. He was giving one final speech about following their dreams.

Will found a place to sit and sank to the ground listening to Paul tell all of those kids that they could be anything they wanted to be, encouraging them to dream big and work hard to achieve their goals. Will snapped a picture with his cell phone and sent it to his editor, to go along with the article that he had already emailed to him.

An hour later, all of the kids were gone and Paul and Will were saying their goodbyes to John. "Thank you Mr. Black for the opportunity to do this, I really enjoyed it." Paul said.

"Hey." John said, "Its John remember, and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy life to do this for the kids. They were thrilled to meet you, and it is something they will remember for the rest of their lives."

"No problem." Paul said. "I am sure I will see you around, I am going to be sticking around Salem."

"Oh." John said, "That is great news. I am sure we will meet again. You boys have a good night." He said smiling knowingly.

"Thanks." Will said.

Paul led him out to the car and opened the door for him. "Any requests for dinner tonight?" He asked.

"No, you choose." Will said.

"Let's go somewhere quiet, I need to talk to you about something." Paul said.

"How about we get take out and go down by the river?" Will asked feeling nervous.

"Okay." Paul agreed.

They dropped into the pub and order a couple of burgers to go. Then left the car there and walked down to the river bank. Will pulled a blanket out of his messenger bag… so what if it was pink and white with little dainty giraffes and balloons on it.

"Sorry about all the pink and the animals." Will said, indicating the blanket… "It's Ari's, you never know when she is going to spit up all over herself." He said, explaining.

Paul grinned. "It's fine." He said, handing Will his take out box and they sat down on the blanket.

Now that they were there and alone, Paul was nervous. But this was something that he knew he needed to do.

"So…." Will said. "What did you want to talk about?"

Paul took a large bite out of his burger and chewed slowly. It tasted about like he imagined saw dust would taste.

"Ummm Will…" Paul said when he has swallowed his food. "Do you remember that first time we had lunch?"

"The first time we had this exact meal?" Will asked. "Yeah, what about it?"

"There was something that I should have added to my story that day, especially after hearing yours…. But I didn't really know how." Paul said.

"What should you have told me?" Will asked, a sick feeling building in his stomach. He pushed his food away from him, steeling himself to whatever Paul was going to say. He knew this was too good to be true.

"I didn't come just happen to come here for my surgery and recovery, I chose to come here." Paul said. "I came back here because I wanted to try and reconnect with the person I told you about… the one from my past."

"But you said he didn't want anything to do with you." Will forced out. "Did he change his mind all of the sudden?" he was surprised at the pain, that thought caused him.

"No….. " Paul denied immediately, "And to be honest it wouldn't matter to me now if he had. Ever since that first day I met you, you are all I have been able to think about." He said, reaching out to take Will's hands in his own.

Will relaxed a little… "Then what is it?" he asked, looking down at their joined hands.

"That person from my past….. is Sonny." Paul whispered. He kept his gaze fixed carefully on Will, trying to gage his reaction.

"Sonny?" Will repeated dumbfounded.

"Yeah…. I'm so sorry Will, I should have told you way before now… I just didn't know how to say it." Paul said.

"Sonny asked you to marry him?" Will asked wanting to clarify.

"A long time ago." Paul said.

"Not that long." Will argued back. "Then you turned him down and he came here….and hooked up with me."

"Not straight here, I think he went to Dubai for a while first." Paul said. "Then he came here and fell for you, he didn't hook up with you, that has never been Sonny's style. Besides I can't imagine how anyone could help falling in love with you."

"And then I ruined it, just like I always ruin everything good that happens to me." Will went on, like he hadn't heard Paul.

"You made a mistake…. You are human." Paul said.

"You really should have told me this. You should have told me that you are still in love with Sonny before you asked me out." Will said, his voice cracking, his heart breaking.

"I don't love Sonny…." Paul said, moving closer to Will.

"You came back here for him." Will whispered. "You must still want him… even if you don't want to admit it."

"Weren't you listening to me, I can't think of anything but you… You are the last thing on my mind as I fall asleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up. You fill my dreams, and when I am not with you I spend my time thinking about how soon I can see you again." Paul said desperately.

Paul watched Will carefully as he digested those words…. It was a lot, especially for him and it was a declaration of something that closely resembled love.

"Did you tell Sonny that you wanted him back?" Will questioned.

"Yes, right after my surgery, I tried to convince him to give me another chance." Paul confirmed.

"And he said no… so you latched on to me?" Will asked his voice escalating, the pain curling tightly in his stomach.

Paul sighed. "No Will….I had that conversation with Sonny a few weeks ago… I have only seen him once since I met you." He said.

"When was that?" Will asked.

"Before our first date." Paul said, determined to tell him the full truth. "I thought he was coming to see me because he was jealous that you showed interest in me…. But he came to ask me to leave you alone."

Will looked at him strangely. "That doesn't make any sense." He said. "He doesn't want me."

"It makes perfect sense…" Paul said. "Sonny still has feelings for you."

"No… "Will denied. "That was over a long time ago."

"I think he does." Paul said slowly. "So if that is something that you are interested in, If you want him back. I think you may need to talk to him before we go any further."

Will was quiet while he thought about that. He was sure that Paul was wrong and Sonny was surely not interested in him, he couldn't even remember to meet Will at the club, 10 hours after making the plans. There had been plenty of opportunities for him to change things between them, and he had never given Will so much as a hint that he wanted things to be different.

"I don't want Sonny." He finally said, meeting Paul's eyes. "I want you."

"You sure?" Paul asked.

Will nodded and crooked his finger at Paul beckoning him closer, kissing him wholeheartedly.


	11. Chapter 11

Paul leaned forward until Will was forced to lie back against the blanket, never breaking the kiss. He loomed over Will taking control of the kiss, kissing Will almost savagely, pouring all of his emotions into it. He was so relieved that Will still wanted him after finding out about Sonny being a part of his past.

Will wrapped his arms around Paul's torso, pulling at him until he was flush against Will's chest. He groaned into Paul's mouth at the contact of Paul's hard body against his. His hands went to the hem of Paul's shirt pushing the material out of his way, tunneling underneath Paul's undershirt until they came into contact with naked skin.

Paul was startled when he felt Will's cool fingers against the skin of his back. He could not stop the shudder that ran through him. Breaking the kiss, he backed up far enough to seek and find Will's eyes. They were darker than Paul had seen them before and clouded with desire.

Will's fingers traced the sensitive area of Paul's sides. "Hmmmm" Paul hummed, leaning down kissing Will again, trailing his lips over to Will's ear, pressing kisses along his throat.

Will's pulse was racing, the blood licking through his veins like fire. He drew his leg up wrapping it around Paul's hip rubbing himself against Paul, trying to create a friction that would bring him some relief from the raging inferno that was building inside of him.

"Will…" Paul gasped.. pulling back until he had created a small space in between them. "We have to stop." He said softly.

"Don't want to." Will denied, pulling Paul forward trying to bring their bodies back into contact.

Paul rested his forehead against Will's. Giving him that much. "Me either." He said, "But I also don't want the first time we make love to be on a blanket, on the cold ground, in a very public place." He said.

"Oh." Will said, looking around them dazed. "I guess I forgot where we are." He said.

"Come on let me take you home." Paul said, moving off of Will.

Abigail was propped up on the sofa in Will's living room. 'The Notebook' was playing on the TV, Arianna was asleep in her crib, and she was glancing through the latest magazine that had been delivered to her tablet during the boring parts. She looked at the time, it was still early and she didn't expect that Will would be home for a few hours. The benefit he was covering for the paper was not supposed to be over until about Six O'clock and then Will had said that he and Paul were going out for dinner, so she figured he would be back between eight and nine. Therefore she had plenty of time to finish the movie and wash her dishes from the snack she had made herself earlier.

Her phone startled her when it rang out loudly announcing that she had a new text message. She picked up the phone and looked at the message. It was a frantic message from her mother.

"JJ has been in a car wreck… meet me at the hospital as soon as you can get there." It read.

Abigail took a deep breath and texted back that she would be there ASAP. She thought for a minute trying to decide if she should wake Ari and take her to the hospital with her. Finally she decided that she could probably just call Marlena or Sami or someone to come and watch her for an hour or so while she went and checked on JJ, then she could come right back.

Abigail called Marlena, Sami, Lucas, Caroline, Maggie… and no one was answering. She called Will's number and it went directly to voice mail. Finally she gave up and called the one person that she knew would answer.

She pressed the contact on her phone… it began to ring… "Come on, come on, come on pick up" she chanted.

"Hello." He answered.

"I need a favor." Abigail said.

"Name it." He answered.

"I am at Will's babysitting Arianna and mom just texted to say that JJ was in a car accident and was taken to the ER. Can you come sit with her, while I run over and check on him, I promise I will come right back."

"I don't know if that is such a good idea or not." He said.

"I have called everyone else." Abigail said, "You are my last hope and I will only be gone for an hour tops… Please." She cried.

"Okay, Okay. I am on my way." He relented.

"Thank you." Abby said disconnecting the call.

She went to the kitchen and threw her dishes in the dishwasher, and then went to check on Arianna to make sure she was still sleeping. Then she had nothing to do but pace back and forth in the small space in between the couch and the door.

Finally there was a soft knock on the door. She ran over and opened it, grabbing her purse on the way.

"Arianna is asleep, I just checked on her. She will probably stay asleep until she is ready to eat again, which should be around eight o'clock. I will run over and check on JJ and then I will come back as soon as I can. I don't think Will is going to be home till around nine. Just make yourself at home." She rattled off instructions, one word tumbling into the next.

"Go…." They said. "I've got this. Let me know about JJ."

"Thank you. I really owe you for this." She said.

"Yeah.. you do." They agreed.

Abigail turned and hurried off, feeling guilty but knowing that she had not really had a choice.

Will was mostly silent on the way back to his apartment complex. He had a virtual war waging inside him. He couldn't believe that Sonny had proposed to Paul, couldn't believe that in all their time together Sonny had never even mentioned Paul. He was furious with Sonny, for not telling him about Paul and also for trying to warn Paul to leave him alone. Who did he think he was? He had his life with Brian, a life that he had no intentions on giving up… so why would he try to deny Will any happiness. He knew he should be upset with Paul too, but considering his own past, he could sort of understand why Paul had kept silent. But Sonny had nothing to lose.

Paul pulled into a parking space and killed the engine. Will had been very quiet and he wasn't sure where his mind was at. The last thing he had wanted to do was hurt Will in any way. But he knew that Will was hurting now, and he had played a part in it.

"I will walk you to your door." Paul said, getting out. He went around and opened Will's door waiting for him to get out. When Will stepped out, and Paul took his hand and twined their fingers together. They walked silently to his door. Paul was trying to figure out something to say, anything to make Will feel better about this whole situation.

When they stopped in front of the door, Paul opened his mouth to apologize again but was surprised when Will reached out with his freed hand and wrapped it around the back of his neck, pulling him closer, He brought their mouths together, his tongue invaded his mouth, tentatively touching the roof of his mouth, gliding along his tongue, skimming along his teeth.

Paul stood perfectly still, letting Will have full control of the kiss and whatever else may or may not happen. He groaned with the effort. He wanted nothing more than to drag Will to him, and feel his entire body plastered against his own, but he didn't want him to feel pressured.

Will sighed into his mouth, eventually breaking the kiss in order to breathe. He drug in a ragged breath before he pressed small kisses along his jaw line, suckling the sensitive skin just below his ear, until a faint purplish bruise came into view.

"Will…." Paul gasped. "I have to go."

"No.." Will whispered. "I don't want you to go."

Paul's eyes slid closed. His body temperature rose a few more degrees, when Will licked over his collar bone.

Paul's body shuddered under Will's ministrations. He skimmed his nose up the column of Paul's throat until his mouth was against the shell of his ear. "I want you to stay with me tonight." He whispered.

Paul's head snapped up. He looked Will in the eye. "Are you sure?" he asked, "Because we don't have to do this tonight. I'm not going anywhere."

Will held his gaze for a long moment…. "I know, but this is what I want…. I am asking you to make love to me, now…. Tonight." He said.

Paul reached out and pulled Will roughly against him, he took his mouth in a blistering kiss. Will wobbled on his feet under the assault of Paul's kiss, and they fell against the door frame, Will's elbow bumping into the door.

Sonny looked at the clock, It was just about Eight O'clock and he had just finished feeding Arianna her bottle, and put her back down. It was the first time that Sonny had spent any real amount of time with the baby. Most of the time when Will dropped by the coffee shop he was on his way to or from class and she was with a babysitter. This was certainly the first time that he had been alone with her. She was precious and Sonny could easily fall in love with her.

He stood over her and watched her sleep, imaging how different his life could have been….. if he hadn't been so bitter and stubborn about Will lying to him. If he had just given into his feelings and went back to Will before it was too late, before he had gotten so involved with Brian, before Brian had proposed to him. He loved Brian, a lot actually. But not like he had loved Will. He had never loved anyone like he had loved Will….. not even Paul. Will had consumed his life, Will had been buried so deep in his heart that he wasn't sure where he ended and Will began. That was what had been so gut wrenching when he had found out that Will had lied to him over and over and over again. He had been ripped apart by that because he had trusted Will above all others.

If he had just listened to his father, when he had asked to wait… cautioning him not to rush into anything with Brian until he was completely sure he was over Will. If someone had pointed out to him months ago that Will was waiting for him… things could have been so different now. He could be a father right now. He and Will could be raising this beautiful little girl together.

Sonny closed his eyes against the pain that twisted somewhere deep within him. He knew he had to find a way to let Will go…. Will was moving on now, with Paul so it seemed… and his place was with Brian. He had to accept it. He knew he could not live his life with one foot in each world. He took a shuddering breath, as a single tear slid down his face. He wiped it away and turned away from the crib.

Sonny reached into his back pocket, pulling out his phone, he started composing a text to Abigail asking her to please hurry up. He needed to get the hell out of there. He was tired of playing the 'what if' game. He stopped when he heard a soft knock on the door. He shoved the phone back in his pocket and hurried out into the living room, it had to be her.

Sonny reached the door and pulled it open. "I was just about to text you…." He said.


	12. Chapter 12

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL OF YOUR KIND COMMENTS, AND REVIEWS. I REALLY APPRECIATE EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Just wanted to let you all know that I am posting this now, because I am working a 16 hour shift tomorrow, and I won't have time to post a chapter. I will post again on Monday. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, I know some of you have been waiting specifically for this chapter. Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you enjoy your day.**_

"I was just about to text you" Sonny said pulling open the door.

Will wrenched his mouth away from Paul's when Sonny's voice registered in his mind. He turned to look at him. "Sonny, what are you doing here?" he asked confused.

Sonny was shaken. The last thing that he had expected to see when he opened the door was Paul all over Will, like that. His blood was boiling, Paul was pushing Will way too fast, his vision was a haze of red. Paul was taking this a little too far, hadn't he asked him not to get Will mixed up in this?

"Sonny!" Will said a little louder. "What are you doing here?"

The rough edge of Will's voice shocked him a little. Was that anger that he detected? Finally he realized that Will was waiting for him to say something.

"Will… don't be upset." Sonny said, Abigail said she tried to reach you and you didn't answer your phone… there was an accident." He explained.

"What?" Will asked pushing past him into the apartment, "What accident, what are you even talking about?" he almost shoved Sonny down in his haste to get by him. "Not my baby…" he shrieked crossing the room, the chill of terror travelling down his spine. He threw the door open to the nursery and the vise grip on his heart relaxed only when he got to the crib and saw his angel sleeping there peacefully.

"No, Will." Sonny said, following him, hurriedly trying to explain. "Arianna is fine, it was JJ, he was in a car accident and Abigail had to go check on him."

Will walked out of the nursery and closed the door, a wild look in his eyes. "And you were the person she chose to call?" he asked.

"I was the only one that answered, she called Marlena, and Sami, Maggie, your dad… and I don't know who else." Sonny defended.

"Oh." Will said. "Well thank you for watching her, but I am home now you can go on back home to Brian."

Will's voice definitely held an edge of anger that Sonny did not understand. He had known when he agreed to come that Will may be upset to find him here watching Ari. Mostly because he had never watched her before, and Will was picky about who he allowed to babysit for him. "What is your problem?" Sonny asked.

"Nothing." Will snapped.

"I know you better than that Will." Sonny said.

Will looked at Sonny defiantly.

Paul had remained silent until now, but when Will looked at Sonny, the look of desire that had clouded his eyes earlier was entirely gone, only to be replaced with the reflection of pain that he had worn earlier when Pau; had told him about his past with Sonny. Paul wondered briefly if Will even realized how expressive and revealing his eyes were.

"Sonny." Paul said, clearing his throat, stepping over to where Will stood. "I think it would be best if you left now, Will is upset right now."

Sonny turned to Paul and glared at him. "And I think that you should mind your own business." He snapped. "Of course he is upset, what do you expect him to be when you are constantly pushing…" Sonny sneered at Paul.

"Don't talk to him like that!" Will said, jumping to Paul's defense. "You really want to know what my problem is…Fine, I will tell you. But you just remember that you asked for this." Will continued, practically shaking with the anger bottled up inside of him.

"Will… babe, you don't have to do this right now." Paul said, reaching out and putting his hand on Will's shoulder. "It can wait until you have had time to think about what you want to say."

"NO!" Will denied, shrugging Paul's hand off of him, "If Sonny wants to know then I think now is the perfect time to get this over with." He said.

Will turned to Sonny, "You left me because I lied to you, you completely abandoned our life together, all that we had built because I lied to you about being Arianna's father. You asked me 'What was wrong with me… What kind of person could look someone in the face, someone that they claimed to love, and lie to them time and time again.' You made me feel like I was damaged, like something was really wrong with me, You know like I was wired wrong, because as we all know, I am Sami Brady's son. YOU…." Will choked out, pointing at him…. "You made me feel like I wasn't worth loving…. and then you turned around and lied to me. It's really quite the double standard… don't you think?"

"What are you talking about, I lied to you?" Sonny asked.

"You didn't tell me about your past with Paul." Will said. "I thought you had been trying to tell me something, that day in the square… and I asked you about it, and you lied to me, you said you didn't remember what you had been about to say, you said it wasn't important."

"It was in the past." Sonny said, "I didn't see what it mattered now." He defended himself.

"What about when we were together and I asked you about your past." Will said, "You could have mentioned Paul then…. But you didn't."

"Did you tell me about every person in your past?" Sonny answered.

"GABI…. Was my past…." Will said, his voice rising. "You knew about her… and then there was the kiss with Neil which you saw…. And then there was you."

Sonny looked at Will, and sneered…."And now there is him." He said jerking his head toward Paul.

"Don't do that…." Will shrieked, "Don't you dare do that…You don't get to judge me."

"I'm not judging you Will, I am worried about you, I know firsthand how Paul operates." Sonny said.

Will's head snapped up. "OH so I guess that's why you told him to stay away from me?" he screeched. "Because you were worried about me? Or maybe it is because you don't want me… but you don't want anyone else to have me. Why don't you want me to be happy?"

Sonny turned to look at Paul, incredulously. "You told him that?" he asked, glaring at the other man.

"Yes ." Paul said, "I am not keeping anything from Will, he knows everything."

"So he knows that you came back here…. For me…" Sonny asked.

"I told him that I came back here to reconnect with you, and that you made it clear to me that there is no place for me in your life." Paul confirmed.

"Does he know that you asked him out, just to get at me, to make me jealous?" Sonny countered.

Paul's eyes flew to Will… The fresh look of pain that flashed in Will's eyes, wrenched his gut, like a blade.

"That's a lie." Paul denied vehemently, "I asked Will out because I enjoyed his company. You are the one that insinuated that I would never want to really be with Will."

"That's not what I said, you are twisting my words." Sonny bit out. He turned back to Will, looking at him closely."You need to leave and stop pushing Will into things he is clearly not ready for."

"Will." Sonny called his name, "You know that I want you to be happy. It is my greatest wish for you." He continued. "I just want it to be with someone who is right for you."

"Well you don't get to decide that, I DO!" Will shouted. "And I don't care who you think is right for me or wrong for me, your opinions have no place in my life anymore."

"Will…. Listen to me." Sonny said taking a step in Will's direction, reaching out for him.

Will back pedaled a step or two. He didn't want Sonny to touch him. He crossed his arms over his chest. "No Sonny, I don't want to hear what you think, I don't want to hear your excuses, I want you to leave."

Sonny looked at Will, astonished. Then he turned on Paul. "This is your doing…" he said. "You are pressuring him too fast and you don't want him to listen to me, so you are trying to ruin our friendship." He accused.

"What is it you think I am pushing him into?" Paul asked.

"Come on, I saw you all over him in the hall." Sonny said snidely. "I remember exactly how you get your way and win arguments. I know how persuasive you can be when you want something. He couldn't breathe, you surrounded him so that couldn't even think about what he wants. How could he with you attacking him like that."

"I think you have the wrong idea here." Paul said.

"I don't think so." Sonny spat.

"Sonny, Will is.." Paul began.

"Paul." Will said, garnering his attention.

One word, was all it took. Paul immediately cut off the comment he was about to make, turning to Will. Will shook his head no, indicating that Paul should not finish the statement he had been about to make. He knew that Sonny needed to hear it from him.

Will looked Sonny in the eye, holding his gaze. "I asked Paul to spend the night with me. Paul was trying to leave and I. asked. him. to. stay." He said pointedly, "And Now I am asking you to leave. Paul and I had plans for tonight."

Sonny opened his mouth, then quickly closed it again. He felt nauseous; his heart felt like it was breaking in two. He turned without another word and walked out of the apartment.

Paul walked over and closed the door behind Sonny, he turned back to Will and took in the sight of him. His shoulders were slumped forward in defeat, and he looked pure miserable.

Paul went to him and pulled Will into his arms. He led him over to the couch and sat down pulling Will down with him.

Will leaned against his shoulder and just let himself cry. He had thought that he was done with all of this. He thought he had let go of the past, the day that he had went over to Sonny and Brian's apartment, but somehow it still hurt. He loved Sonny, and on some level he knew he always would. Sonny had been his first real love.

Paul held him until he quieted, and then held him a while longer until Will sat up and wiped his eyes. His eyes downcast, he was embarrassed.

"Will." He said softly, putting a finger under his chin, lifting his head like he may do to a small child. "There's no need to be embarrassed."

Will shook his head, fresh tears forming in his eyes. "I'm sorry." He said, his lower lip quivering.

"For what?" Paul asked, confused.

"For letting Sonny affect me this way, sorry for virtually turning into a weeping child." He said. "I don't know what is wrong with me."

"You love him." Paul said simply.

Will shook his head… no.

Paul gave him a sad smile. "Yes.. you do." He said. "And that's okay, he was your first love right?"

Will nodded yes.

"I know what that is like…." Paul said. "He was my first love two… we actually have that in common. I love him, I always will, but it's different now. Since I met you."

Will looked at Paul, the sincerity of his statement was there in his eyes.

"I don't want to be with him anymore." Will whispered.

"I want to believe that." Paul said. "You have no idea how much I want that to be true…. But I think that it is important that you are 100% sure before we complicate things any further."

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

"I mean, I think I should go back to the hotel tonight, and give you time to think." Paul said.

Will clutched him tighter. "I don't want you to go." He said. "I meant what I said. I want you to stay with me tonight."

"Will babe, as tempting as that offer is… I can't, I won't take advantage of you like that, Not now, Not ever." Paul said, already wondering if he was crazy, if he was making a mistake. Clearly, whether or not Sonny wanted to admit it, he was still very much in love with Will.

"Please." Will said. "I don't want to be alone anymore."

Paul groaned…. "Okay." He said, "I will stay, but I will sleep out here on the couch, okay?"

Will nodded miserably. He got up and went to the linen closet and pulled out a blanket, then grabbed an extra pillow from his bed. He brought them back and handed them to Paul.

Paul took them and pulled Will to him, he hugged him tightly and brushed their lips together. "Goodnight." He whispered.

"Night." Will whispered back.

Will went into the bathroom and closed the door. He picked up his toothbrush, and looked at himself in the mirror. What the hell was wrong with him? Paul was here, he had been nothing short of perfect with him, showered him with attention… Paul had been everything he wanted…. And what did he do, he went and cried on his shoulder about another man. "You're an idiot Horton." Will berated himself in the mirror.

It was no wonder Paul was taking a giant step back… He had to put Sonny out of his mind and his heart. He wanted to be with Paul, and he was going to have to show Paul that he wanted to move forward and leave the past where it belonged….. in the past.

Will pulled the spread back and climbed into bed. He tossed and turned until he finally drifted into a fitful sleep.

 _Will was at the pub with Arianna when Paul and Sonny came through the door holding hands._

" _Will, I'm sorry but I don't think I can see you anymore…. Sonny broke up with Brian and we are back together…." Paul said._

" _Nooooooooo" Will screamed. "It isn't supposed to be this way…"_

"NOOOOOOOO" Will moaned…. "Don't leave me." He cried out in his sleep.

Paul sat up on the couch startled out of his sleep. Will was moaning in the other room. He got up and walked over to the door. "Will.." he called.

Will made a choked sobbing sound.

Paul walked into the room. "Will." He said again a little louder. "What's wrong?"

Will reached for him… "Don't leave me." He said grabbing Paul's hand, pulling him forward.

"Will… you were dreaming." Paul said.

Will tugged Paul toward him. Paul sighed and got under the covers, urging Will to roll over away from him. Then he pulled Will's back into his chest, and wrapped his arm around him. "It's okay Will, you were dreaming."

Will nodded against his tear stained pillow. "You and Sonny got back together and you left me." Will said.

"Shhhh" Paul said, "That is not going to happen. Now stop worrying about that and get some sleep."

Will snuggled in closer to Paul and held onto his arm. He finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep. While Paul lay awake most of the night, holding Will in his arms, contemplating the situation they found themselves in. Sonny had his chance and he blew it… Paul was going to make sure that Will fell for him. He was practically already in love with him, and he was not giving him up, Not for Sonny or anyone else.


	13. Chapter 13

Sonny left Will's apartment building in a daze. He ignored his car and walked across the street to the park instead. He walked without aim, taking little notice of his surroundings. Will's words reverberated in his head like an insistent marching drum. 'You…made me feel….damaged." It played over and over on some unseen loop.

Suddenly he stopped, feeling sick he dropped to his knees… 'You made me feel like I wasn't worthy of being loved…' Will's words pierced his heart, cutting deep. He leaned over, his hands sank into the cool grass and he heaved, his body wretched until there was nothing left in his stomach.

He swiped the back of his hand across his mouth, wiping off the remnants the best he could. Had he really done that? He asked himself. Had he really shredded Will's self esteem, making it worse than it had been to start with? His thoughts flew back to the first few days after they had broken up. Every single hateful word that he uttered to Will, during those days flooded into his mind. The simple answer was yes… he had done that. He had said that Will was no better than his conniving mother. Something that he knew terrified Will. He had said that he must have been born without some important traits like, integrity and honesty. He had really asked Will what kind of person he was.. who could look someone in their eyes and lie to them… not once but hundreds of times. He had said and done every single, vile, thing that he could think of, trying to hurt Will as deeply as he had been hurt.

Sonny collapsed down onto the ground and curled into a fetal position. Why had he done that? He had loved Will, with every fiber of his being he had loved him, just like he loved him right now. Sonny clenched his eyes closed against the fresh pain that ripped through him. Hot tears forced themselves from between his eyelids and coursed down his face. The damn was open and Sonny felt like he was dying inside. He had ruined everything and there was no changing it now.

The sound of his cell ringing in his pants pocket distracted him momentarily, until he decided to ignore it. It wouldn't be the one person that he wanted to talk to, that person may never want to talk to him again. And he couldn't blame him.

His phone rung for a ridiculous amount of time before it fell silent, and then started in again and again. Sonny choked back a sob, and pressed his fist to his mouth to mouth to hold in his screams. He could not get Will's expression out of his mind. For one brief moment he had looked like a scared child again. Sonny had really hurt him, and he hadn't even known how much. Now Paul was going to be the one to help Will pick up the pieces and move on.

A strangled sound escaped his lips, garnering the attention of a passerby.

"Sonny? Is that you?" The voice sounded a million miles away. Sonny recognized it as Maggie's.

"Leave me alone." He moaned, didn't she understand that he just wanted to be left alone.

"Are you hurt dear?" She asked, tugging at him.

"Go away." He tried again, pulling away from her and curling into a tighter ball.

Maggie picked her purse up from the ground beside her. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Justin… I think you need to get down here to the park right away." She said when he answered. She quickly explained the situation to him and then listened to him for a moment."Yes, yes of course I won't leave him, just hurry. I think he has been hurt." She answered, then disconnected the call.

She tossed her phone back into her purse and pulled Sonny's head onto her lap. "It's going to be okay," She said soothingly, as she rubbed her fingers through his hair.

"No…." Sonny moaned over and over again. "It's not okay… it's never going to be okay again. I ruined everything."

"Did you and Brian have a fight dear?" She asked, beginning to get scared. She had never seen Sonny so broken.

Sonny ignored her question, what was the point of telling her that all he and Brian ever did was fight anymore. He had ruined that too. He ruined everything he touched.

Suddenly his dad was there…. "Son…." He said, dropping down beside him. "What happened?"

Sonny didn't answer. He just curled into a ball again.

"Sonny, are you hurt, do you need to go to the hospital?" He tried again.

Maggie got up, "I am going to give you two some privacy." She said, before she walked off.

Justin maneuvered around in front of him, and pulled him up roughly. "Sonny." He said, "I need you to tell me what the hell is going on. Are you hurt at all?"

"I lost him." Sonny said brokenly.

"Who, Brian?" Justin asked confused.

"No!" Sonny hollered. "Will…"

"Sonny, you aren't making sense here." Justin said.

"Will is with Paul Narita." Sonny snapped. "I lost him."

"Okay son… we need to get you home and then we can talk about this." Justin said. "Come on now." He pulled his arm, forcing him to sit up.

Sonny complied and sat up. Justin helped him to stand and then led him out of the park to his car that he had double parked on the street.

They drove back to the Kiriakis mansion in silence while Justin gave Sonny so time to gain his composure and get himself together. When they were there he climbed out of the car and left Sonny sitting there alone in the car.

Sonny sat there for what could have been hours, or it could have been minutes. Time had no measure for him. He was cold, miserable, and hollow on the inside. Eventually he got out and drug himself into the house. Justin was waiting for him in the living room. He indicated that Sonny should take a seat on the couch, and Sonny gladly fell into the cushions.

Justin poured Sonny a generous amount of bourbon into a glass and came over to sit beside him. "Tell me what happened son." He said, handing him the glass…

Sonny sniffled and took a sip, wincing as it burned his throat on the way down. "He's gone." Sonny said sadly, as if it should be obvious who and what he was talking about.

"You and Will have been broken up a long time." Justin reminded Sonny.

"I know." Sonny whispered.

"So is this all because Will has a new boyfriend?" He asked.

"Not just any boyfriend." Sonny said, taking a bigger gulp of the drink.

"You said Paul Narita, in the park, Do you mean the man you asked to marry you. The one that turned you down?" Justin asked.

"One and the same." Sonny said, raising his glass. "He came back here for me, and ended up with Will."

"How did that happen?" Justin asked.

"I don't know honestly." Sonny said, "Will wanted to interview him for the paper, after he got a job at the Salem Chronicle… they had lunch, then dinner, then they were going to spend the night together." He said, his voice rising with emotion.

"Okay." Justin said, "Well I don't Paul, never even met him, but that doesn't sound like something Will would do."

"He wouldn't." Sonny said, "This is all Paul's doing."

"Is Paul, forcing himself on Will?" Justin asked.

Sonny thought about that for a moment….it was tempting to just say yes… but then again….. "No of course not." He said finally, he sure wasn't going to do anything to cause Will to hate him even more.

"Sonny, can I ask you a question?" Justin asked.

"You are going to ask, whether I want you to or not….. so go right ahead." He snapped.

"I guess, I am just not clear if you are upset about Will…. Or Paul." Justin said.

"What kind of question is that?" Sonny asked.

"I think it is a good one." Justin said, "You are going back and forth talking about Will, then about Paul."

"Will was doing fine….. Before Paul came here. He was in school working his butt off, busy being an amazing father to Arianna." Sonny said, why does that have to change now.

"Will was lonely." Justin pointed out.

Sonny shook his head…. "No, he has friends, he went out with them, hung out with me at the club… he was fine."

"That is just what you wanted to see, sure Will was content with life, but there was nothing in his life for him to be excited about, nothing to make life full for him." Justin said, "I'm sorry son, but you were seeing exactly what you wanted to see. Will is lonely, has been lonely for a long time."

"But I was there for him." Sonny said. "And Arianna gives his life meaning. He told me so."

"Yes….But Arianna is his daughter and you are his friend, but You.." Justin started.

"Was." Sonny interrupted.

"What?" Justin asked, confused again.

"Was his friend." Sonny clarified.

"Okay fine, I don't think Will is going to stop being your friend. But for arguments sake we will say 'WAS'." Justin said. "You were his friend, but you have a life, a life partner, you and Brian are getting married in just a couple of months. Don't you think that Will needs and deserves a relationship like that."

"Sure." Sonny said, "Just not with Paul."

"What's wrong with Paul?" Justin asked, "He can't be all bad, you stayed with him for almost two years."

"I never said he was bad. He isn't right for Will. That's all." Sonny said, getting aggravated again.

"Who is right for Will?" Justin asked. He hated to see his son in pain like this, but Sonny was going to end up driving himself crazy.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?' Sonny shouted.

"Who else asked?" Justin said.

"Chad….. Brian…" Sonny said.

"Brian asked you, who you thought was right for Will?" Justin asked surprised.

"Yeah, but it was about him being jealous." Sonny said. "It wasn't a real question."

"Brian is jealous of Will?" Justin asked to clarify, knowing that it was true. He had seen it on occasion.

"Yes, although I don't know why… I have stayed with him, I continue to stay with him." Sonny said bereft.

"Sonny, I think that Brian see's what you try so hard to repress." Justin said, "I think that Brian sees that you are still in love with Will. He may even understand more than you do that you are staying with him out of a sense of responsibility."

"I'm not." Sonny said, "I love Brian, Just not like I loved Will." It felt strange saying it aloud. He had known it the whole time, the little voice in his head mocked him, even as he accepted Brian's proposal. 'You will never love him the way he loves you.' It said. And Sonny had known it was true, but he had to try. Brian had come along and carried him through the darkest time in his life, he owed his life to him.

"Sonny, if you are not totally and completely in love with Brian, you have to let him go." Justin said, "Otherwise this is going to end in disaster."

"No…." Sonny said, "Will made his choice, he is with Paul, and I am going to marry Brian." He said, getting up and crossing the room, He put the drink on the bar. "I have to go, can you drive me home?" he said.

"Of course." Justin said, getting up. He followed Sonny back to his car and drove Sonny over to his apartment building.

When he pulled up at the entrance, he put a hand on Sonny's arm. "Think about what I said son." He said.

"Thanks dad." Sonny said, opening the door, and stepping out.

As he walked into the apartment building he looked down at himself, he was a mess, his clothes looked like he had been sleeping in them for a week he had dried vomit on his sleeve and his eyes were bloodshot and swollen.

Sonny pulled out his keys and opened the door. It was completely dark and silent in the apartment. Sonny sent up his thanks to God that Brian was not home yet and went straight toward the bathroom to get in the shower. He made it almost to the bathroom door…

"Where have you been?" Brian asked from his position on the couch, flipping the light on startling Sonny.


	14. Chapter 14

Sonny blinked a couple of times against the harsh light. "Hey," He said, "I didn't think you would be home yet."

"Obviously." Brian said sarcastically. "I called you several times to tell you that I was getting off early and coming home. I wanted to take you out to dinner."

"Oh, what time?" Sonny said recoiling from the ice in Brian's voice. "I guess I didn't hear my phone ring." He explained.

"I called you more than ten times….the club must have been busy tonight." Brian said.

"Not too bad, about normal." Sonny said evasively.

"And how would you know?" Brian sneered. "I called the club when you didn't answer your cell phone."

"You did? They didn't tell me." Sonny said slowly, trying to figure out where Brian was going with this conversation.

"Yeah, I did and your buddy Tad right… the one you call 'T' took great pleasure telling me that I could find you at Will's house, if I needed to reach you. He even offered me the phone number there." Brian said, rising from the sofa.

Sonny hung his head. "I wish he hadn't done that." He said sincerely. He didn't want Brian hurt by his indecision. He was staying with Brian, no matter what. What was the use of trying to be Will, Will didn't want him anymore.

"I bet you do." Brian said. "I guess it would make things a lot easier for you."

"Brian." Sonny said. "I only wish he hadn't told you that, because I didn't want to cause you any pain or worry for nothing."

"So… let me get this right. You wanted to keep it a secret for me, to save my feelings… and not just because you didn't want to get caught cheating on me. Is that about right?" he asked.

"I wasn't cheating on you." Sonny snapped at him. It had already had a long day and night, and he had dealt with just about all he was capable of for one day. "Abigail called and asked me to come and take over babysitting for her. JJ was in a car accident and was brought into the ER, and she needed to check on him. You can check with the hospital if you don't believe me, and I was there alone with Arianna. NOONE else was there."

"I saw JJ in the Emergency room before I left." Brian said, "I believe that is why you went there, But I don't understand why she called you, why couldn't she call someone else….Will is a Horton, he must have a million family members in this town alone. She could have called any one of them, anybody but you?"

"She did call a bunch of people and no one answered but me." Sonny said defending his cousin. "She even called Will to come home but his phone was off or something."

"Oh really, Well great dad he is turning out to be." Brian sneered.

"HEY!" Sonny said, reacting before he even had time to think about it. "Don't talk about him like that."

"Did I touch a nerve?" Brian asked grimly. "That's not surprising at all unfortunately."

"Will is a great father, and you know it." Sonny said.

Brian shrugged. "I don't see Will much. So how would I know anything about him, other than what you tell me. You prefer to spend time with him when I am not around."

"No you don't see him much and do you ever wonder why that is?" Sonny asked, getting angry. It's because when he is around you turning into a raving lunatic and start pawing all over me… sometimes, I am surprised that you don't just go ahead and piss on me to mark your territory." Sonny spat out.

Brian laughed. "Yeah, I guess, I do have a small jealous streak when it comes to Will." He admitted. "But I wonder whose fault you think that would be?"

"That's not fair, I have stayed with you and you know I have never cheated out you, NEVER." Sonny said. "Even though God knows I have had plenty of opportunities."

"Maybe not physically." Brian conceded. "You have been faithful to me when it comes to your body…. But what about in your heart?" he asked.

Sonny looked at him warily. "You know it took me a long time to get over what happened between me and Will." He said.

Brian scoffed. "Come on Sonny, we both know you aren't over what happened between you two, just like you aren't over him. You still love him and pine after him, you don't want him with anyone else because you want to be with him. The thought of him being with someone else makes you so miserable you can't even stand yourself. I have been patient, but I'm not blind and it gets clearer and clearer to me every day."

"Will is moving on." Sonny said, as if it made a difference.

"So you're stuck with me?" Brian asked. He walked past Sonny toward the door. "Somehow that doesn't feel like a win to me. I love you with all of my heart but I refuse to be your consolation prize Sonny."

For the first time Sonny noticed the suitcases sitting beside the door. "Where are you going?" he asked, panic building within his chest.

"Well, Not that you really care but… had you answered the phone and come home, I was taking you to dinner to tell you that I was offered a four week internship at John Hopkins Hospital, thanks to Dr. Jonas pulling some strings for me. I am leaving tonight." Brian said.

"You're leaving me?" Sonny asked.

"I'm not sure that I ever really had you to begin with..." Brian said.

"Don't be like that." Sonny said, "I don't want you to leave." Tears pooled in his eyes.

Brian closed his eyes. His brain was screaming at him to take Sonny into his arms and assure him that everything would work out, but he couldn't do that. He had to do this for himself, having only a part of Sonny was no longer enough.. He wanted all or nothing.

Instead he took Sonny's hands in his own. "I love you." He said simply, "But I can't live with this anymore. I can't live in constant fear that this is going to be the day that you wake up and decide that you are going back to Will. It's not fair, and it is turning me into someone that I don't want to be. I am jealous, angry, nervous, to name a few, all the time." He said.

"But we are getting married in less than four months." Sonny said, wiping the tears from his face.

"This is a huge opportunity for me, and I have to take it, and besides the time apart will give us time to decide what we want. I have to be honest, I plan on using my time to decide if I can marry you knowing that part of you will always belong to someone else. And I want you…"

"No…" Sonny interrupted. "I can take some time off and go with you, at least for a week or so…" he said.

Brian shook his head, "Two months ago I would have given the world to hear you say that…. Today sadly, it just doesn't mean much."

"We can fix this…" Sonny said frantically.

"I really hope we can." Brian said. "I hope that things work out for us. I want nothing more than to marry you. But I want you to WANT to marry me too."

"I DO WANT TO MARRY YOU!" Sonny said. "You are just upset…. And it is over nothing really…. I was at Will's apartment tonight but he was not there. I left as soon as Will and Paul came home."

Brian looked at his watch. "I have to get to the airport," he said, "But please Sonny while I am gone, PLEASE figure out what you want, once and for all." He stressed. "And if you want me, then whatever unresolved feelings that you still have with Will needs to be dealt with." He put his hands on Sonny's face, forcing Sonny to meet his eyes. " I mean what I am saying to you right now. I WON'T MARRY YOU AND PLAY SECOND FIDDLE TO SOMEONE ELSE. So talk to him, take him out, do whatever it takes to get him out of your system." Brian couldn't resist pressing his lips to Sonny's one last time. "Goodbye Sonny." He said.

"Don't." Sonny said brokenly.

"I have to do this for me… if I don't do it now, I never will." Brian said picking up his suitcase and walking out the door.

Sonny stood there stiffly looking at the door in disbelief. In one day his whole world had crumbled around him. Will was gone, Brian was gone…

Sonny went to the bedroom and laid across the bed pulling a pillow to him. He buried his face in it and cried, eventually falling asleep.

He woke up hours later, drug himself from the bed, swallowed some Tylenol with a mouthful of water, and then went to the kitchen. He poured himself some whiskey into a glass and drank it in two swallows. He picked up his cell and dialed Chad's number, leaving message saying that he was not feeling well and was taking a few days off. After he disconnected the call he switched the phone off and dropped it onto the counter. Then he trudged back to the bed crawling beneath the covers pulling them all the way over his head.

Minutes turned to hours; hours to days…..time passing him by with Sonny only leaving the bed except to take medicine, drink more whiskey, and use the facilities. There was nothing else to do, no one to see, nothing left to say, Will had said everything he wanted to say to him, and Brian had left him, his life was falling down around him and he had no idea how to stop it. He could talk to his dad, but hadn't he basically taken Brian and Will's side. He could talk to him mom, but he didn't want to hear 'I told you so.'

Three days later, Sonny was standing at the sink looking a the empty bottles littering the counter. There was nothing else to drink in the house, except soda, He had finished the whiskey, the bourbon, even the rum they had stashed under the counter… Sonny grabbed a bottle of water and went back toward the bedroom, when there was a knock on the door.

"Go away." Sonny called, continuing to walk toward the bedroom.

"Sonny." Abigail called through the door. "Are you okay, I have called you a million times, and I stopped by the club and Chad said you were sick."

"Go away." Sonny repeated going into his bedroom and closing the door behind him. He crawled back in the bed, covering his head.

Suddenly his bedroom door flew open. "Jackson Kiriakis." Abigail said sternly.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Sonny said, throwing the covers off of him, standing up, ready to escort her out.

"You gave me a key for emergencies remember?" she asked.

"Exactly… for EMERGENICIES." He said.

"Well, This is an emergency, they said you were sick and no one has seen or heard from you in three days. For all we knew you could have been dead." She said.

"As you can see I am alive." Sonny said, "So get the hell out of here and leave me alone."

"Sonny, I am not leaving until I find out what is wrong with you." She said stubbornly, "And why are you still wearing the clothes you had on the other night?" she said, going over and touching his forehead. "You don't have a fever. But your eyes are bloodshot." She said. "What is going on?"

"None of your damn business." Sonny said, dropping back onto the side of the bed."

"And I hate to tell you but the smell in here is atrocious." She continued as if he hadn't said a word. "Sonny…. What is that all over your sleeve?"

"Doesn't matter." Sonny said, looking down at it.

"Well you need a shower. LIKE RIGHT NOW." She said, pulling him up and shoving him toward the bathroom. "And don't come out of there until you shave that mess off of your face too." She ordered. S

Sonny went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He stripped the clothes off and stepped into the shower, turning the water on.

When she heard the water start to run in the shower, she turned to the bedroom. The first thing she did was go over and open the window to let some fresh air in. Then she stripped the sheets from the bed, and went to the washer. She put them in and put them on the longest cycle on the machine. After that she grabbed a garbage bag and began tossing the half full water bottles, and the bone dry liquor bottles. It didn't look like Sonny had been eating much, but he had sure had plenty to drink.

Once the countertops were cleaned off, she looked in the refrigerator and pulled out some things to make a sandwich with, since there wasn't much in there. She made Sonny and sandwich and poured him a glass of milk. She was just sitting it on the table when he emerged from the bedroom, fresh from the shower.

"There's the cousin that I recognize." She said, "Come and eat, you look like you have lost ten pounds since I saw you last."

Sonny looked at the plate, ready to tell her that he didn't want to eat, but his stomach growled, so he sat down to eat. He was surprised at how hungry he was. He finished the sandwich in a minute or two and pushed the plate aside, then he drank the milk, using in to swallow a couple more Tylenol.

Once he was done, Abigail cleared the dishes and sat down beside him. "So….. she said, Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked.

"Not Really." Sonny said.

"You know, I am not going anywhere till you talk to me right?" Abigail said.

Sonny nodded, and got up and went to the couch. He sat down and buried his face in his hands. "I don't even know where to start, I ruined everything."

"Let's start at the beginning, and you can tell me everything, then we will figure out what to do together." Abigail suggested, getting comfortable beside him on the couch, it looked like it was going to be a long night.


	15. Chapter 15

_Three days ago….._

Will rolled over and groaned….his head felt like it would explode. He was surprised when he encountered a warm body. He pried his eyes open and saw Paul's large frame relaxed in sleep. He was shirtless and his hair was tousled. He closed his eyes again, as the night before came flooding back to him.

His face heated, as a pink flushed colored his skin. He had really cried over Sonny on Paul's shoulder and then begged him not to leave, basically forcing Paul to get in bed with him. 'What a colossal jerk I am.' He thought.

He threw back the covers and was relieved to see that he at least still had his pajama bottoms on. And Paul still wore his jeans. That couldn't be comfortable for Paul but it did make Will feel a little better. At least he hadn't gotten naked and thrown himself at Paul. He didn't think he could take anymore embarrassment.

He eased out of the bed, leaving Paul snoring softly. Will padded into the kitchen and quietly put on a pot of coffee. Then he crept in the nursery to check on Arianna.

Arianna was looking around the room, cooing when he walked up to the crib… "There's daddies princess." He said picking her up, nuzzling her to him. He remembered in great detail, that minute of panic that he had endured last night when he thought something had happened to her….. he never ever wanted to feel anything close to that again.

He took her over to the changing table and changed her diaper and dressed her in one of her play outfits. Once that task was complete he walked out into the kitchen and pulled a spill proof cup from the cabinet and made her some milk, then he turned on the kettle to heat some water to make her some oatmeal. While he waited he put her in the high chair and handed her the cup.

He decided that he could at least have some sort of breakfast ready for Paul when he woke up. I was the least he could do after all that had happened yesterday. He rifled through all the cabinets and checked the refrigerator. There was nothing to really make a decent breakfast, nothing to even make a crappy breakfast. He signed and cursed himself silently for not going to the market. Then he got an idea.

He picked up the phone and dialed the pastry shop in the square. He asked for a box of assorted pastries and a couple of different kinds of juice, then he offered to pay double if someone would just run it over to him. The young girl that answered the phone said that wouldn't be necessary and that she would get it right over to him.

True to her word, Will had just sat down at the table to feed Ari her oatmeal when he heard someone knock on the door. He got up and answered it, taking the bag and giving her a couple of folded bills that included a very generous tip. He pushed the door closed with his foot and sat the bag on the table then sat back down to finish feeding his baby girl.

Once she was fed, cleaned up, and content again in the bouncy seat, Will went over and took the pastry box out of the bag and opened it. It looked like there was some of everything they had in the box. He selected some and put them on a plate, placing it on the table. He grabbed them a couple of plates and sat them on the table. Then he poured two steaming cups of coffee and added a couple of tumblers of juice to the table.

Once he was satisfied with the presentation he walked back to his bedroom, looking at Paul fondly before he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. He laid his hand on Paul's rib cage, tracing a pattern over his abs.

Paul's eyes fluttered open. "Good Morning." he said gruffly.

"Morning." Will said. "Did you sleep okay?"

Paul nodded. "Just fine, thanks." He said, moving to sit up.

Will moved back giving him room. "I have some coffee ready and some breakfast if you are hungry." He said shyly.

"Mmmm sounds great. I just need to go to the bathroom and I will be right out." Paul said.

Will nodded, and got up. He went out and closed the door to give Paul a little privacy. While he waited on Paul to come out he contemplated Arianna in her bouncer, soon it would be time to retire it, her feet were already folded underneath her. He probably should have already packed it away, but it was the only thing that quieted her when he couldn't hold her. And she loved all of the sounds and lights. He honestly didn't know what he was going to do without it.

Minutes later the bedroom door opened and Paul stepped out. Will noticed that he had pulled his shirt back on. He walked over and pulled out a seat at the table, picking up the coffee. He took a swallowed and moaned. "That's really good coffee." He said.

"Glad you like it." Will said, taking the seat beside him. He handed Paul the plate for him to choose what he wanted. Paul took the blueberry muffin and put it on his plate. Will took a cheese Danish and then set the plate aside.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, until Will cleared his throat. "I'm really sorry about last night." He said. "I ruined the whole night."

"Hey." Paul said, reaching over covering Will's hand with his own. "You didn't ruin anything."

"Yes, I did. We were having a great date… until… well until we got back here." Will said.

"We did have a great night." Paul said. "You know a relationship is about accepting the good and the bad… being together through the easy times and the hard times."

Will ducked his head. "I don't know how you could want to be with me after I spent the whole night crying over my past with another man." He said.

"The relationship that you had with Sonny, is part of you." He said simply, "How can I begrudge you, your feelings when they helped shape you into the person that you are?" Paul asked. "My past with Sonny is a big part of who I am… I carry the lessons that I learned with me, using them as reminders… to make sure that I don't make the same mistakes again."

"You are amazing, do you know that?" Will asked.

"I'm glad you think that now… one day when you have had to pick up my gym socks out of the middle of the floor for the hundredth time, you may wonder what you ever seen in me. And when that day comes I am going to remind you of this moment." Paul warned chuckling.

"Nope." Will said, "because you are going to pick up your own nasty socks."

Paul grinned. "I guess we will see." He said teasingly.

They finished eating and Will cleared away the mess, putting the uneaten pastries back into the box, storing them in the refrigerator. Then he stuck the plates into the dish washer and poured them each another cup of coffee.

They went and sat on the couch together. Paul sat his coffee to the side. "Will," he said, "I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I think you need to sit down and talk to Sonny, just the two of you, I don't need to be there, Brian doesn't need to be there. It needs to be just the two of you so you can both be honest with each other about how you feel."

"Nothing can come of that." Will said, "Nothing but more pain. Sonny is marrying Brian, and I used to want to change that. I used to pray every night that he would change his mind and give me another chance. I prayed that he would tell Brian that he had made a terrible mistake. Every day when I went to see him, It was with the secret hope that it would finally be the day when Sonny would take me in his arms and tell me that he couldn't live without me. That he forgave me for everything and we were finally going to be the couple that we were meant to be again. And every day, I left disappointed." Will finished, his eyes glassy with unshed tears.

"I'm soo sorry, no one deserves that." Paul said. "Did you ever think that it was just too painful to be friends with him?"

Will shook his head. "No… I knew what life was like without him. There were a couple of months that Sonny wouldn't even look at me. Those months were the worst." He said.

"I can understand that." Paul said.

"Eventually though Sonny forgave me. I was over the moon, until he told me that it didn't change anything, He said that he was still marrying Brian. I was devastated, but I learned to cope with it, until now." Will said.

"You can't cope with it anymore?" Paul asked.

Will shook his head… "No what I mean is that it doesn't bother me, nearly as bad as it used to. I think that Is because of you." He explained. "I can see myself with you."

"Good." Paul said, "I can see myself with you too, but I want you to promise me that you will talk to Sonny, because as hard as it would be for me to let you go now, it would be even more difficult down the road."

"Okay." Will said. "I will talk to him soon, just not today. Today I want to spend the day with you, and I want to introduce you to my best girl… I mean if you don't have any plans.." He said.

"I'm all yours." Paul said.

"I like the sound of that." Will said shyly as he got off the couch and went to get Arianna from the bouncer.

He came back and sat down beside Paul again. He sat her in his lap and Paul looked at her in awe… "She is gorgeous." He said.

"Thanks." Will said, smiling at him. Here take her." He said, handing her over to Paul.

"Wow." Paul said, looking down at Arianna, "She is soo tiny." He said.

Will giggled. "Ummm she's huge. You should have seen her when she was born, she weighed just a little over Six pounds. Now she weighs almost twenty three pounds."

"How old is she?" Paul asked.

Arianna looked at Paul, examining him, as he was examining her.

"She's almost 18 months old."

"Her hands are so little." Paul marveled. "And she looks like an angel from heaven."

"She is my angel." Will said. "She definitely keeps me grounded."

"I can see how." Paul said. "I never thought about having a child, or being a dad."

"I never wanted to be a dad….. until she came along." Will said. "I didn't think I would be any good at it."

"Well you were wrong about that." Paul said. "I can tell you are an awesome father."

Will blushed.

Paul loved that innocence about Will.

"Well it sure isn't because I had good role models."Will said.

"Maybe that is exactly what makes you such a great father…. Because you have the desire to give her a life greater than yours." Paul said.

"That's possible, I guess." Will said.

"Arianna, can you say hi to Paul?" Will said, turning his attention to his daughter.

Arianna shook her head no and quickly hid her face behind her hands.

"Arianna Grace." Will said sternly. "Don't be rude."

She kept her hands in place. Will reached up and pried her hands away from her face. "It's okay princess. Paul is daddy's friend. Can you please say hi?" he asked.

Arianna looked up at Paul again. She contemplated him carefully. After about three minutes, she finally opened her mouth. "Hi." She said quickly before she buried her face again.

Will laughed…. "Well that's better than nothing." He said apologetically.

"I'll take it." Paul said.


	16. Chapter 16

A few days later, Will sat on the couch, laptop in his lap while he worked on a final draft of his next article. He wasn't getting a lot done, he kept sneaking glances at Paul and Arianna playing together in the floor. It hadn't taken Paul all that long to get past her shyness and get her to warm up to him. She was happily sharing her blocks with him and he was teaching her how to build a sky scraper.

Ari laughed and Will smiled when the building got too tall and became a leaning tower. Paul scrambled to catch it but he wasn't fast enough and it fell completely over, breaking over Paul's head. Paul laughed and fell over, playing dead.

"Gin… Gin…." Ari cried happily, and Paul dutifully sat up and started building the tower all over again. Over and over and over again Paul built the tower, let it fall on his head and fell over to play dead, never complaining one little bit. Paul was a natural with kids; Will couldn't believe that he didn't realize how much he would have to offer a child.

After a good hour of them going through the same scenario, Will decided to rescue Paul. "Come one Ari, it's almost nap time." He said, getting up and picking her up off the floor.

"Noo, gin… pwease…" she cried squirming to get down.

Will laughed, "We should probably let Paul rest before he gets a concussion." He said tickling her side.

She giggled and squirmed until Will put her back down. Then she ran back to Paul… She promptly sat herself down right on his lap. "No nap…" she said defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"But daddy says you have to take a nap sweetie." Paul said. "You are a growing girl and you need your rest. You go ahead and take a nap and I will stay right here till you wake up." He said.

She looked at him sternly.

"I promise." He said solemnly.

She blinked a couple on times and then seemed to relent. "Otay." She said, turning to Will and holding her arms up so he could pick her up again.

Will leaned over and hoisted her into his arms. "Thank you." He said quietly, before he pressed a quick kiss to Paul's lips.

Paul smiled and winked at him. "You gotta know how to handle the ladies, man." He teased.

Will blushed, "Be right back."

About 30 minutes later, when Will came out of the nursery, Paul was on the phone.

"No I can't come today, cancel it and I will come tomorrow." He said. Then he listened for a couple of minutes. "Well then it will have to be day after tomorrow. Whatever I have to do, I just can not make it today." He listened another minute and then thanked the person and disconnected the call.

"What are you cancelling?" Will asked.

"My physical therapy session for today." Paul answered.

"Paul, no you need your therapy. Why would you do that?" Will asked surprised.

"Because I just promised your daughter I would be here when she wakes up." Paul said.

"But your therapy is important. Ari will understand." Will said. "Call back and tell them you are going to make it."

"Nope." He said stubbornly. "I am not letting the first promise I ever made to your daughter turn into a lie." Paul said, "My therapy can wait."

"Okay," Will said, swallowing around the lump in his throat. "Well we could go with you." Will said.

"No, it's okay, Ari needs her nap, and besides it isn't like I am going to be going back to baseball anyway. I can do my therapy at my own pace, there's really no rush." Paul said.

"Okay if you are sure." Will said, feeling terrible. If he had known that Paul had a therapy session scheduled for today, he never would have let him promise her that he would be there when she woke up.

"I'm sure." Paul said, pulling Will into a hug.

"So…" Will said, "I can order us some lunch or we could wait and go out when Ari wakes up but, …. Full disclosure…. dining out with a toddler is not a lot of fun."

"We can do whichever one you want to do." Paul said. "It really can't be that bad."

Will laughed, "Eventually you will see… but for today I guess I will spare you, and order us some Chinese so we can hang out in front of the TV."

"That sounds great too." Paul said.

Will made the call to order the food and then turned the TV on handing Paul the remote. They decided on an old action movie and settled in on the couch Paul sat on one end and Will laid down and put his head on Paul's legs.

Paul smiled down at him and carded his fingers through Will's hair. He was glad that Will was so comfortable with him, in such a short time.

"It's been a really good day." Will said. "Thank you for being so sweet to my baby girl, she obviously adores you.

"I love her already." Paul said.

"That makes me happy." Will said.

"I'm just glad she likes me." Paul said, "I was worried."

Will laughed. "You're such a big kid yourself, you had nothing to fear." He said.

"Hey!" Paul said, "I resent that." Giving Will's hair a gentle tug.

"OUCH." Will said.

"Serves you right!" Paul said.

Soon there was a knock on the door, Paul urged Will up and went to get the door. He paid for the food and closed the door. "Hungry?" he said.

Will stood up and went to the kitchen to get a couple plates and he and Paul took some of the food to the living room where they sat on the floor in front of the table and ate while watching the end of the movie.

Will had brought the fortune cookies and dropped them in the middle of the table, and when they were done and pushed their plates away, Will took one and handed Paul the other.

"You first." Paul said, indicating that Will should open his first.

Will cracked his cookie open and popped half of it in his mouth then looked at the scrap of paper. "You will have many happy days soon." He read aloud.

"Interesting…" Paul said.

"Ha!" Will said, "That's not really a fortune or a prediction. They can't predict something that already came true. I have had a lot of happy days lately."

"I'm glad you're happy." Paul said.

"Me too." Will agreed… "Your turn." He pointed to Paul's cookie.

Paul opened the cookie and threw half of it onto his plate, then he unrolled the paper that fell out of his cookie. . "Accept what comes to you each day." He read, then looked at Will and smiled.

"Sounds pretty open ended." Will said.

"Could be anything." Paul agreed, tossing the other part of the cookie onto the plate.

Will raised his eyebrow, "You don't like fortune cookies?" he asked.

Paul shook his head… "Nope they are kinda gross, they don't really taste like anything."

"Okay then." Will said, getting up and picking up their dishes. He went and dumped the trash off of the plates and rinsed the plates off putting them in the dishwasher.

Will walked back toward the couch, but stopped just short of sitting down when there was a knock on the door. He walked over and opened it.

"Hi grandma." He said when he saw Marlena standing there. "Come on in." he offered moving aside.

She stepped in the door and looked around the apartment, smiling warmly at Paul. "Nice to see you again, Paul." She said.

"You too, Dr. Evans." Paul said politely.

"Have a seat grandma." Will said.

"Oh no.." She said. "I didn't know you had company, and I don't want to interrupt. I just came by to tell you how great I thought your article was and to see how you are doing. I can come back some other time."

"You're not interrupting anything." Will said. "We were just watching some TV while Arianna naps."

"How is Ari doing?" She asked. "It feels like I haven't seen her in weeks."

"It's been a couple weeks I guess." Will said. "She is turning into quite the little Sami Brady." He teased, "She is very demanding and is a master at getting her way already."

Marlena rolled her eyes comically. "Well then I don't have to tell you that you are going to have your hands full then, do I?"

"Not at all." Will said. "But I am working hard to not let her get too far out of hand."

"Good to hear." Marlena said., she looked at Paul, "Have you met Will's mother yet?" She asked.

"No Ma'am, I haven't yet had the pleasure." He answered.

Will and Marlena looked at each other and Will snickered. "He has no idea what a treat that is going to be." Will laughed.

Marlena shrugged her shoulders a little. "She has calmed down some since she married EJ, amazingly." She said.

"Yeah, I guess that is true." Will said, "But I don't really want to scare Paul away yet." He said dramatically.

"OH Honey…." She said, "In all my years I have found it is always better to deal with your challenges head on and not hide your skeletons in the back of your closet." She said, only half teasing.

"Oh, I'm not hiding mom… you know the minute she thought I was hiding her she would come here, guns blazing so to speak… " Will said. "I'm just carefully avoiding for the moment." He said laughing.

"Alright Alright! Point taken, but in all fairness, I am going to tell you that she told me she hasn't seen you or Arianna in way to long and she was going to make it a point to come and see you soon. So maybe…. You should go see her first, before she shows up, when you are um… entertaining friends." She teased.

"Thanks for the warning Grandma. I will take Arianna over there tomorrow." He said.

"Speaking of taking her to visit family, has she been to see Gabi lately?" She asked.

Will nodded. "Rafe took her a couple weeks ago, and I am taking her again next weekend." We try to take turns."

"You are an amazing father, I have never been prouder of you." She said.

"Thanks Grandma." Will said.

"I have to run, John is meeting me at the club for dinner and drinks." Marlena said, giving Paul a little wave and kissing Will on the cheek.

Will walked over and just as he opened the door, there was a tiny cry from the baby monitor. "Sounds like someone is awake." He said giving his grandma a hug.

"I will get Ari." Paul said going into the nursery.

"So did you really come by to say you like my article and warn me about mom?" Will asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

Marlena gave him a smile… "I really did want to tell you all that…. And check on you." She said.

"So it was a scouting mission." Will said.

"I just wanted to see how things were going with Paul, and it seems like they are going really well." She said.

Will was touched that she wanted to check on him. "Things are great!" he said.

"Good." She said, "See you later."

Will watched her go then closed the door and went to rescue Paul in the nursery. It sounded like Arianna may be giving him a hard time in there and he didn't know if Paul had ever changed a diaper before, or if he would even want to.

When he got to the nursery Paul was sitting in the rocker with Arianna in his lap, she was snuggled into his chest sniffling. "Heyyyy." Paul crooned softly to her. "It's okay Ari, I've got you."

"Hey Princess, what's wrong?" Will asked kneeling down beside the rocker.

Arianna looked at him wide eyed, then lunged for him. Will took her and carried her into the living room. He sat on the couch with her and held her on his lap for a few minutes.

Paul followed them watching carefully. "Guess she doesn't adore me as much as we thought." He said, sitting down in the chair.

"She just has to get used to you." Will said, "I guess she thought I left her."

Arianna sat quietly with Will for a few minutes, then eventually she squirmed down, until her feet were on the floor. She toddled over to Paul and took his hand.

Paul picked her up and nestled her in his arms, but she was having none of it. She squirmed and squirmed until she was down and then took his hand, tugging at him until he got up. She led him back over to the blocks.

She sat down and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to do the same. When he followed her example she handed him a block… "Gin." She said.

Paul looked at Will, pleased that she hadn't forgotten their game. He took the block and began building the tower again.


	17. Chapter 17

Will finished buttoning Arianna's clothes back up and carried her to the living room and put her down in front of her blocks while he rushed around getting her things together. 'Blanket, extra clothes, diapers, wipes, snack, sippy cup, favorite animal…' he went over the list in his head as he packed the things into a diaper bag. Finally satisfied that he had everything he sat the bag on the couch and went back to the bedroom to pull out her stroller.

He was coming back into the living room when there was a knock on the door. He glanced at the clock, it was only 1:30. Paul was early, but then Ari had napped a little longer than she usually did, and he had been caught up in editing his article and hadn't noticed until about 10 minutes ago.

"Come in." He called out.

Paul opened the door and walked in. "Hey!" He said winking at Will, going straight over to Arianna when she held her arms up to him. "Hey Pumpkin." He said picking her up and swinging her around.

She laughed wilding and clung to him. When he stopped she hugged him tightly.

Will watched them together, wondering how Paul had gotten past all of her defenses soo fast. Not that he was complaining. He was thrilled that Ari seemed to like Paul as much as he did. It sure made his life simpler.

"Hey!" he said, "What am I, Chopped liver? He pouted.

Paul looked at Arianna and grinned. "Uh Oh…. Someone's jealous." He said. "Let's go give daddy some love." He said carrying her over and wrapping his free arm around Will. He pulled Will close. "We love you, daddy. Don't we Ari?" The little girl giggled and nodded enthusiastically, reaching out to Will.

Will took her and nuzzled her close. "Love you to baby girl." He said, kissing her forehead. Then he looked at Paul over her shoulder. "WOW." He whispered.

"What?" Paul asked.

"You just said that you love me!" Will answered.

Paul thought for a second. "Yeah, I guess I did." He said. "And I meant it."

Will smiled and reached out to him. He pulled him forward into a kiss.

Paul pressed in close to them holding Will tightly, until Arianna squirmed in between them. "Hey!" she cried out.

Paul moved back, letting Will go slowly. "Sorry Pumpkin." He said, "I was just saying hi to daddy."

"One thing though." Will said, looking at Paul.

"What thing?" Paul asked.

'You aren't allowed to call me daddy." Will said, "It's just plain weird."

Paul burst out laughing. "Point taken." He said.

Arianna squirmed in Will's arms until he sat her on the floor and went back to opening the stroller.

"Who's ready to go to the park?" He asked when he had It open.

"Me…me…me…" Arianna chanted. She ran over and threw her arms up waiting for Will to pick her up and buckle her into the stroller.

Once he had her situated, he turned to Paul. "Will you grab the diaper bag off of the couch and open the door for me?" He asked.

"Sure thing." Paul said, following Will's instructions.

Will pushed her out onto the sidewalk and then Paul took the stroller, he pushed Arianna across the street and over into the park. Once they were inside Will directed him over to the side with the child's play area.

As soon as Arianna saw the playground come into view, she started clapping… "Down….. Down…. Want down…" she chanted.

"Alright Ari, daddy knows you want down, but you have to put on your jacket, it is cold." Will said, lifting her out. He sat her on the ground and picked up her jacket from the top of the diaper bag. He held it out.

"Noooo…." She said, pushing it away. "me noo cold." She said.

"I am not cold." Will corrected her automatically, "and it doesn't matter if you are cold or not, it is cold out here. If you want to stay and play you have to wear your jacket, or I can take you home. You chose." Will said holding the jacket up for her.

She stood staring at him. "Nooo cold." She whined again.

"Jacket or home." Will repeated her choices.

She sighed dramatically, and jammed her arm in the jacket sleeve.

"Good girl." Will praised, zipping it up.

She ran off and climbed onto the rocking horse. Will watched her as she began to rock back and forth.

Paul put his arm around Will's back. "You are amazing with her." He said.

Will shook his head. "I am not that good, but I just keep trying." He said.

"Are you kidding me?" Paul said. "You are a wonderful father Will. Arianna is a lucky little girl."

"Thanks for saying that." Will said.

"I mean it." Paul said, pulling Will closer to his side.

They found a bench and sat down watching her run from toy to toy, never staying in one place for very long.

They had been there nearly an hour when Ari came running up and grabbed Paul's hand. "Swide wif me." She asked.

Paul eyed the small slide… "I don't think I can." He said cautiously.

"Pwease." She asked.

"Arianna, honey." Will said, "Paul isn't going to fit on that slide, it is for little girls and boys.

"Me not care." She pouted.

"I don't care." Will corrected, before he picked her up, and sat her on his lap. "Paul may get stuck up there and have to stay here forever." He teased. "Then he won't be able to come over and play blocks with you."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but then she slid down and went to slide alone.

"Thanks." Paul said laughing, "I didn't know how I was going to squeeze through that little house thing at the top.

Will giggled loudly.

"What's so funny?" Paul asked.

"Nothing really." Will said. "I was just picturing Alice in Wonderland when she eats the cake in wonderland."

Paul looked at him like he was crazy…. "What on earth are you talking about?" he asked.

"Have you never seen Alice in Wonderland?" Will asked, surprised.

"I don't think so." Paul answered truthfully.

"We have to fix that." Paul said.

"Okay then." Paul said, "I will look forward to that." He looked over at Ari who was struggling to climb onto a swing. Paul got up and went over help her.

Will sat back and watched him scoop his daughter up and put her into the swing, pushing her gently. Arianna squealed out happily laughing.

His heart swelled with love for both of them. Paul was a good person, who loved his daughter, told him the truth and pushed him to face his feelings head on…how could he not love this man?

"Will, Hey!" Lucas said, sitting down beside him.

"Hey dad!" Will said surprised to see Lucas sitting down, "What are you doing here?"

"I was on my way to a meeting at Basic Black." Lucas said, "And I thought I heard my granddaughter."

"Ahhh." Will said, "You did, she's right over there." He said pointing to where Paul pushed her as high as he dared.

"Who's that with her?" Lucas asked. "Looks like that ball player."

"That's him." Will agreed. "You want to meet him?"

"Are you kidding, he's just one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball…. Of course I want to meet him." Lucas said.

"MMkay come on." Will said standing up.

"Wait." Lucas said. "What's he doing here with you, playing with Arianna?" he asked. "Are you interviewing him or something?"

"No." Will said feeling proud. "Paul and I are dating."

"Yeah?" Lucas asked. "That's great son!"

Will nodded, "For the last few weeks," he explained. "We aren't like engaged or anything, but it has been a great few weeks. Come on, I will introduce you." Will said.

Lucas followed him over…..

"Paul." Will called.

Paul turned and looked at Will.

Lucas watched Paul closely, he saw the way his eyes lit up when they landed on his son. He noticed how Will's body naturally gravitated to Paul's side.

"This is my dad, Lucas." Will said, indicating to Lucas, "Dad, meet my boyfriend, Paul Narita."

Paul stuck his hand out and Lucas clasped it in his own, "Nice to meet you sir." He said.

"The pleasure is all mine." Lucas said. "I was surprised to hear that you were in town actually. I couldn't believe that you would choose our small town to have surgery and recover in. Do you have family here?" Lucas asked.

Paul shook his head. "No nothing like that but I did have my reasons for coming here."

"Gampa…." Arianna called happily, the swing slowed down. She was about to jump off but Paul reached out and caught her easily.

"Whoa there Pumpkin." He said. "You're going to get hurt." Paul turned with her and she practically dove into Lucas's arms. She promptly gave him a kiss on the cheek, and hugged his neck tightly.

"How's my favorite girl?" Lucas asked.

"Where Allie?" She asked him, looking around.

"She is with Grandma Sami." Lucas said, "You will have to get daddy to take you to see Grandma Sami." Lucas said, tickling her side.

"Otay." She giggled and struggled to get down again.

Once her feet were on the ground she was gone.

"You know mom is going to kill you for that right?" Will laughed.

"What?" Lucas said innocently.

"Grandma Sami?" Will said.

"She is her grandmother." Lucas defended.

"Mom tells Ari to call her Nana." Will said.

"And Ari calls her Grandma Sami." Lucas said, laughing.

"And you wouldn't have anything to do with that, right?" Will asked skeptically.

"Who me?" Lucas said, "Not at all."

Will looked at Paul, my mom despises being called Grandma," He explained.

"That's kind what I figured. But judging by looking at your dad here, she is way too young to be a grandma anyway." Paul said.

"Oooohh, Will." Lucas said, "You did good, your mom is going to like this one."

"I hope so." Will answered him. "He's a keeper, I think."

"Wing me, wing me, pwease." Arianna called from the other side of the playground.

Will looked up to see where she was. She was laying across the seat of one of the swings for the bigger kids. "Oh no." He moaned. "You're too little for those swings." Will called aloud. "Come back over here."

"Wing me pwwweeeeeaaasssseeee." She whined again.

"I got her." Paul said, jogging over to where she was.

Lucas watched him go then turned back to Will. "He seems like a good guy." He commented.

"He is." Will said simply.

"You seem happy." Lucas said.

"I am." Will said, his eyes following Paul. "He is definitely something special."

Lucas nodded. "It is good to see you doing something besides moping around waiting for Sonny to come to his senses." He said.

Will's eyes jumped to Lucas's face. Surprise clearly evident in his expression. "Was I that obvious?" he asked, suddenly embarrassed.

"Well, it wasn't written on your forehead or anything, but I am your dad, and I know you pretty well. It was pretty easy for me see what was going on in that head of yours."

"I thought that I did pretty good at playing it off." Will said.

"Well you probably did for most people. But don't for a second think that I haven't been there. I have been through that more than a time or two with your mother." Lucas said.

"I'm sorry about that, it sucks." Will said.

"It does, you're right." Lucas said, "but I am getting off topic here. I just want you to know that I am really happy for you."

"Thanks dad." Will said.

Lucas looked down at his watch… "Damnit." He said, seeing that he had gotten distracted and lost track of time. "I am going to be late. I have to run. Kiss Ari for me, will you?" he asked. "And tell Paul I said I will see him around."

"Sure dad," Will said. "See you later."

Lucas hurried off and Will turned his attention back to Arianna and Paul. He had charmed her off of the swings and had her on the merry go round, which he was spinning slowly. He stood there spinning it for her until she stood and staggered off of it like a drunk person.

Then Paul picked her up and carried her over to the bench where Will waited for them. He sat down with her, situating her on his lap. "Where did your dad go?" he asked.

"He was late for a meeting." Will said, but he said he would be seeing you around."

"Cool." Paul said, "I would like to get to know him."

Ari laid her head over against Paul's chest. Her eyes sliding closed as she drifted off to sleep.

"You tired someone out." Will said, pointing at Ari. "She is asleep already."

"She's not the only one that is tired." Paul said, "I am about ready for a nap myself."

Will chuckled. "Should we go back to the apartment so you can take a nap?" he asked.

"That's not a bad idea." Paul teased.

"You wanna put her in the stroller?" Will asked.

"No, I will carry her." Paul said.

Will shook his head, "What about your shoulder, you shouldn't be picking her up at all, let alone carrying her that far?" he asked.

"It will be okay." Paul said.

"No, here give her to me and you push the stroller." Will argued.

"Okay." Paul said, transferring the sleeping child to Will's arms.

They got up and Paul gathered her things together and sat them in the empty stroller.

They walked back to Will's apartment building and Paul took the keys from the front pocket of the diaper bag an opened the door. He went straight to the nursery with Arianna, lying her in down in the crib.

"She is out." Will said, coming out of the nursery shutting the door quietly behind him. "You know where my bed is if you seriously want to…" He looked up to see that they were not alone.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" he asked when he saw her standing in the open door in front of Paul.

"Interrupting something apparently." She teased.

"But…." Will started.

"Oh come on Will…. You knew Lucas would call me, I had to come and meet the man that put a twinkle in your eye." She said strolling past Paul into the apartment, promptly sitting down on the couch.

Will blushed a deep crimson. "Come on in mom, have a seat." He said resigning himself to getting this over with.


	18. Chapter 18

"Sooooooooo….." She said, drawing out the word waiting for Will to make the introduction.

Will sighed. Could him mother get any more annoying? He thought.

"Mom, this is Paul Narita." Will said, pointing to Paul who had just closed the door and turned around to face them.

"Paul, this is my mom." Will said.

Paul walked over and extended his hand. "So you're the famous Sami that I have heard so much about?" he asked. "It's very nice to finally meet you."

Sami reached out and took his hand, shaking it firmly, "UH-OH." She said, "That can't be very good."

"What do you mean?" Paul asked, playing dumb.

"Don't be coy with me." She said, "You think I don't know that I have a notorious reputation in this town." She chuckled.

"I haven't heard a thing that would be anything less than flattering." Paul fibbed smoothly.

"Well then stick around a little longer." Sami laughed, "I am sure you will eventually."

"I like to form my own opinions about people." Paul said.

"Me too, so I can respect that." Sami agreed, "So how long have you known my son?" she asked.

"Just a few weeks." Paul said, taking a seat in the chair beside the couch.

"Well that explains why I didn't know you existed, it's been at least that long since I have seen Will, I was beginning to think he was avoiding me actually, but I see now he has just been… busy." She said.

"We've spent a lot of time together." Paul agreed.

"So how did you two meet?" Sami asked, looking between the two of them.

"Actually Sonny introduced us mom." Will said, hoping she would let the subject drop.

"You know Sonny?" she asked, looking at him in surprise.

"Yeah we have known each other for a few years." Paul answered.

"Do you have family here?" she pressed.

"Not here, no." Paul said, "My mom lives in San Francisco."

"Then what brought you here to our town?" she asked intrigued.

"I had surgery on my shoulder, and now I am going through therapy." Paul said, There was no way that he would say anything that would cause Will any sort of embarrassment.

"That's right, Lucas said that you play ball… basketball, football, soccer, something….?" she asked.

Will giggled.

"Nooo." Paul said shaking his head. "Baseball actually, I was a pitcher in the major league."

"You must have been pretty good then." She said, "Wait… you said WAS… what do you mean was?"

"Yeah, unfortunately I won't be able to pitch anymore since the surgery." He answered.

"Why not?" She asked. "Is your therapy not working?" she pried.

"Mom." Will said, "Why are you grilling him?"

Sami looked over to Will, "What?" she asked. "I am just trying to get to know him."

"Then can you ask him something a little less… invasive." Will said. "He may not want to talk about that."

"Sorry, was I being too nosy?" She asked. "Fine, we don't have to talk about why you can't play ball anymore."

"It's not that big of a deal, actually." Paul said. "I don't mind telling you, I can't play ball anymore because my arm has just given out, the surgery was so that I can still do normal day to day tasks. But they were not able to repair enough of the damage to allow me to continue playing."

"Oh, well I'm sorry." Sami said, "Did you enjoy playing?"

"Yes of course." Paul said, "I loved every second that I got to spend on the field."

"So what will you do now?" She asked.

"I haven't really figured it out yet." Paul said. "There are a lot of things that I could do actually."

"How long have you and Will been together?" She asked, moving along to the next topic.

"A few weeks, mom." Will jumped in, exasperated.

"So you have basically been dating since you met?" She asked.

"I asked Will out, the first day I met him." Paul confirmed.

"Well since you are here," Sami said, indicating the apartment, "I am assuming that you know Arianna."

"Of course he knows Ari, mom, I can't just hide her under a rock when I want to have someone over or go out." Will groaned.

"No, of course not." She said, "I know that, I just know how you are with Arianna."

"Yeah, well Paul has developed quite a relationship with her." Will said, "Arianna adores him."

"Well that's good." Sami acknowledged. "It is important for her to like whoever you are spending your time with. It will make things easier in the long run. Remember the hell you put me through the first time I was with EJ?"

"Ari more than likes Paul." Will reiterated. "This situation is a whole lot different than our situation was back then."

"You're right about that!" She agreed. "Has my mother met him yet?" Sami asked.

Will groaned…. He had prayed she wouldn't ask that question.

"Actually yes." Will said, "But only because he volunteered for that baseball camp that John did." He rushed to assure her.

"Oh." Sami said, taking it better than he had dared to hope.

"So do you plan on moving to Salem for good?" She asked, turning her attention back to Paul.

"Maybe." Paul answered, "It kind of depends on what I decide to do for a career."

"That makes sense." Sami said.

Will sat down on the couch beside his mother. "How's EJ?" Will asked.

She looked at him. "He's fine.. and you aren't going to distract me." She answered.

Will looked at her innocently, "I wasn't trying to distract you." He laughed.

"So Paul." She said, "Lucas was telling me…" her phone began to ring. "Hold on." She said, going over pulling it from her purse. She looked at the caller I.D. and then at her watch.

She pressed the answer button…. "Sorry, I am on my way right now." She said into the phone.

She stuffed the phone back into her purse. "I have to go, Johnny is done with practice and I have to pick him up." She said, kissing Will on the cheek. "Your dad was right, your eyes are twinkling, and I like him so far." She whispered. Then she turned to Paul, "I am not done with you yet." She teased. "I have a million and one more questions, that I want to ask."

"I will look forward to it then." Paul answered.

"Good answer." She praised before she rushed out of the apartment.

As soon as the door was closed behind her, Will covered his face with his hands…. "I'm soo sorry." He said. "Two in one day, that's just my luck."

Paul shrugged. "It wasn't bad. She wasn't really bothering me."

"That's because she didn't have time to get really obnoxious." Will said. "Just wait."

Paul laughed…. "Everyone keeps saying that."

"That's because it is true." Will said. "Trust me, if you stay with me long enough, you will see what everyone is talking about."

"I was thinking, I have to go over to the hospital for a therapy session this evening." Paul said. "Do you want to come with me and then we can get some ice cream or something afterwards?'

"Sure." Will said, "I will get Arianna up and change her clothes."

Will went into the nursery and changed her clothes, while she groaned and whined in her sleep, as he twisted her this way and that way to get her clothes situated. He picked her up and carried her out into the living room and laid her on the couch, while he packed another bag for her incase he needed anything while they were gone.

Once they were ready to go, Will carried her out and strapped her into the car seat in the car. Paul brought along the stroller stowing it in the trunk.

Will drove them over to the hospital, and when they got there Arianna was still sleeping. "Why don't you go ahead in for your therapy, so you won't be late. Arianna and I will be in a few minutes." Will urged.

"Are you sure, I can wait." Paul said.

"No go ahead." Will said. "It will take me a few minutes to get her out and situated, and if she wakes up before she is ready she is going to be a handful."

"Okay, see you in a few minutes then." Paul said, leaning over kissing Will quickly.

Will smiled and nodded. Paul got out and hurried into the hospital.

Will sat there for about 15 minutes before he got out and gathered her things. Then he carefully lifted her from the car seat and carried her into the hospital. He decided that he would just go to the nurses lounge and lay her on the couch, so she could be more comfortable.

He was almost there when an office door opened and Abigail stepped into the hall. "Hi Abigail." He said, smiling at her.

"Hey Will, what are you doing here, Is Arianna sick?" she said reaching out touching her back.

"Oh no, not at all. We are here with Paul, he is having his physical therapy." He explained.

"Oh good." Abigail said. "I was worried that she had that virus that has been going around."

"No, we are fine." He said, as his phone began to ring. He had shoved it into his back pocket and he struggled to maneuver her around so he could answer the call.

Abigail watched him struggle awkwardly for a minute before she reached out to help. "Here, why don't you let me take her." She said, taking Arianna into her own arms.

"Thanks." Will said, gratefully.

Abigail moved her around, trying to get her to a comfortable position. Arianna roused up, looking around. She blinked a couple of times and looked at Abigail, then she promptly started to cry.

"It's okay Ari." She soothed softly. "I've got you."

Arianna only cried louder.

Will pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw that it was his dad calling, probably to apologize for his mother showing up on his doorstep today, Arianna's cry got louder and he stuffed it back into his pocket, he would have to deal with his dad later.

"Okay let me have her." He said, taking Arianna from Abigail.

As soon as she was back in his arms she quieted almost instantly. "What's the matter baby girl?" he asked. She snuggled down closer to his chest, sniffling. "It's okay daddy has you." He crooned.

"I had better get going." Abigail said. "I will see you later on."

"Bye, thanks again." Will said.

He walked on down the hall, whispering softly to Arianna. He was s caught up in talking to her that he wasn't paying a lot of attention to his surroundings. When he finally looked up he had passed the Physical therapy suite and had made it to the nurses' station in the middle of the hallway. Patient rooms stretched down one corridor and the gym, and therapy suites were on the other hall. Near the nurses' station there was a small seating area. It was deserted and Will went over to have a seat.

He sat Arianna in the chair beside his and dug through the diaper bag, fishing out her cup and a small snack. He handed them to her and she took the juice, but refused the crackers. Will was busy texting his dad back when he heard a familiar voice.

"Will?" Sonny asked.

"Hey!" Will said, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just came by to see Chad for a few minutes. He was here for a business meeting or something and I needed him to sign some paperwork for me." Sonny said.

"Oh cool." Will said. "Haven't see you in a while."

"I know, I've been insanely busy." Sonny said.

"I know that feeling." Will said. "You look rough. You need to get some rest."

"It's been a rough few weeks." Sonny said.

Arianna was finally calming down, her continuous sniffles reduced to one every once in a while.

Sonny looked down at Arianna. "Hey Ari." He said, "I haven't seen you in a while, I missed you." He said, picking her up. She whimpered a little. "Did you miss me?" he asked.

"No." she said quietly.

"What?" Sonny said, "Not even a little bit?"

Arianna shook her head no… squirming to get down.

Sonny held onto her, "I can't believe you," he teased.

"Down.." She said, "Want down." She started to cry again.

Will reached out to take her, but just as he was about to lift her back into his own arms, when Paul came out of the weight room where he was having therapy. "See you in a couple days." He said, closing the door behind him.

Arianna looked up, and squirmed until Sonny finally relented and put her down. He held onto her long enough to make sure that she was steady on her feet. Once Sonny finally released her, she took off down the hall toward Paul. She threw herself into his arms, and he picked her up instantly.

Sonny and Will watched as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Paul hugged her back just as tightly.

Paul walked over and stopped next to Will. "Everything okay Babe?' he asked.

Will shrugged, then nodded. "Yes, I mean I guess." He said. "Looks like she really missed you."

Paul grinned. "I sure hope so, I missed her."

Then Paul seemed to notice Sonny standing there. "Hey, Sonny." He said. "I almost didn't recognize you."

Sonny's hand went to his face, rubbing the thick growth that had grown there. "It's been a busy few weeks." He said. "Speaking of, I really have to go, I will see you both later he said.

Sonny rushed off, not even waiting for the elevator. He pushed through the door that led to the staircase, taking the stairs two at a time. His heart was literally breaking in two as he walked out of the hospital.

Paul was leading his life, the life that he was meant to live. If only he hadn't been so stubborn, Arianna would have been running to him, instead of away from him. She would have hugged him happily, instead of crying to get away from him.

Will looked good….seemed… happy. How had that happened? He had once thought that seeing Will happy would bring him closure and help him to let go of that last hidden hope he had in his heart. But it was the opposite. Seeing Will with Paul only brought him sorrow for what they could have had. He had to talk to Will, to make sure that there was no chance. He had to hear Will say it was over for him, that he could never love Sonny again… then maybe he could let it go.

Sonny pulled out his phone and texted Abigail. "Please meet me at the club ASAP." He pressed send and then hurried over to the club to wait for her.


	19. Chapter 19

"She is out like a light." Will said, closing the nursery door behind him.

"I'm sure, she was pretty tired, but we had a great time tonight." Paul said, when Will dropped down beside him on the couch.

Will swatted his arm, "I think you played harder than she did." He teased.

"I did not." Paul said indignantly. "I was just trying to make sure that she had a good time."

Will nodded. "And you did that for sure. She had a blast chasing you through the ball pit. You two made such a ruckus, I thought they were going to ask us to leave." He laughed.

"Were we really that crazy?" Paul asked, suddenly worried that he had embarrassed Will.

"No." Will denied, "You were fine."

Paul grinned, "Good, cause Arianna already asked to go back again."

"OH NOOO." Will groaned.

Paul reached out and tickled Will's ribs. "You know you had a good time too." He said.

"I had a good time watching you play with my daughter." Will agreed, "She is already head over heels for you. I can't believe you won her over so quickly."

"And what about you?" Paul asked. "Have I won you over?"

"You're definitely getting there…." Will said, "I'm crazy about you."

"Hmmmm." Paul murmured, "That sounds promising."

"It does huh?" Will asked, scooting closer to Paul.

"I think it is pretty close to head over heels." Paul said. "And that isn't too far from love."

Will closed the gap between them, scooting over until his lips were a hairs breath from Paul's. "Umm nope not too far… just a hop, skip, and a jump." He said, pressing their lips together.

Paul put his arm around Will, pulling him closer and Will opened his mouth over Paul's flicking his tongue against Paul's lips. Paul opened to his kiss, giving Will the freedom to explore his mouth.

Will leaned his head back against the back of the couch, placing a hand on each side of Paul's face urging him to follow. His tongue tangled with Paul's, twisting around it, pulling it into his own mouth, sucking on it greedily, his teeth nibbled at Paul's lips, devouring him.

Paul groaned and broke the kiss, breathing heavily. "I have to go." He said, backing away from Will.

"Nooooo." Will groaned, clutching at him. "I don't want you to go." He said, twisting his hands in Paul's shirt, holding him still.

"And I don't want to go." Paul whispered, "But I have to, it's getting late."

"You could stay here tonight." Will said hopefully.

Paul leaned his forehead against Paul's. "Why must you say things like that?" he groaned. "You are way too tempting for your own good."

"Then stay with me." Will said, pressing his lips to the corner of Paul's mouth, then his chin, planting little kisses all around his mouth, running his hands down Paul's chest, coming to rest on his thighs.

"I can't." Paul said. Kissing Will one last time, before he backed away and stood up.

Will looked up at him, his eyes filled with a look that Paul hadn't seen there before. "It's okay, I understand." He said, brushing by Paul to get to the door. He opened it slowly. "Have a good night." He said sadly.

Paul turned and walked to the door. "Wait," he said, "You can't possibly think that I don't want to stay?" he asked.

"It's okay," Will said again. "You don't have to explain anything to me."

"Will!" Paul said, startling him. "That's not the problem at all…. Believe me, . ….." he said pointedly. "I want to take you in to that bedroom and make love to you all night long….I want to worship every inch of this body." He said, trailing his hands down Will's torso... "But I can't."

"Why can't you?" Will said, "That's what I want too, so what's stopping us?"

"When we finally make love, I want to know that I am the only person there, the only person in your mind…. the only one in your heart." Paul said softly, "I'm kind of stingy like that."

"You're the only person here Paul, the only one I will be thinking about, You have filled my life and my mind so full there is no room for anyone else." Will said.

"But what about your heart?" Paul said, "Is there room for anyone else there?"

Will eyed him warily. "I am working on that." He said. "Letting go of the past is easier said than done. Even though it is over and has been for a long time."

"I just need you to be sure of what you want… I don't want you to have any regrets." Paul said. "Good night Will."

"Goodnight." Will whispered.

Paul turned and walked off down the hall.

Will watched his retreating form until he could no longer see him, then he went back into the apartment and closed the door.

Will sat down on the couch and pulled a throw pillow into his arms. He rested his chin on the pillow and closed his eyes thinking about what Paul had said.

Had he been honest? Or Sonny still in his heart? He thought about that for a minute.

He knew that at least part of the love that he felt for Sonny was still embedded deeply in his heart. It would probably always be there, Sonny had been his first love. But was he still IN LOVE with Sonny? He didn't think so, but how could he be one hundred percent sure. He had spent so much of the last two years, well nearly two years, pining over Sonny, hoping that he would just come back to him, give him a second chance. That had been a continuous refrain in his mind even after Sonny had announced that he was marrying Brian. Will had prayed that Sonny would wake up one day and realize that he was making a terrible mistake. But he hadn't. He hadn't looked at Will even once like Will yearned for him to. To Will it seemed as if Sonny had looked through him, past him, not really seeing him at all.

Would he want another chance with Sonny? If fate were to be cruel enough to offer him that, right now, would he take it over what he had with Paul? Paul had given him so much of himself, shown him what it was to have someone totally devoted to him. Paul loved him, he knew all of Will's faults and he loved him anyway…. But Sonny had been the one that had been there for him, supported him when he came out to his family and his friends… He had taught him what it was to love someone….because God knows he had loved Sonny, he had loved him enough to almost give up his child…. That kind of love doesn't just go away…... But then Sonny had left him… had walked away because he had made a mistake….

He didn't know what to think, things were getting confused in his head, making him unsure of what he wanted.

A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts. He looked at the clock, it was nearing midnight. Maybe Paul changed his mind, he thought as he rushed to open the door.

"Change your mind?" he asked, surprised to see Abigail on the other side. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Abigail said, "But I need to talk to you."

"Yes, of course… come in." he said stepping aside, allowing her into the apartment.

She went to the couch and sat down, while Will went to the kitchen and grabbed them both a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

He walked back to the couch and sat down, handing her a bottle. "What's going on?" He asked. "You are hardly ever out this late?"

"I just came from the club." She said. "I was with Sonny."

"Oh, everything okay?" he asked.

Abigail shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know." She said, "I am worried about him."

"What's wrong with Sonny?" Will asked her.

"He is going through a hard time." She answered. "Brian left town almost two weeks ago."

"What do you mean… left town?" Will asked. "Did they break up?" he said unable to help himself.

"Not exactly." Abigail said. "But things aren't good between them, and I don't think Sonny knows if Brian will come back or not."

"Wow." Will said, thinking about what that may mean.

"Sonny isn't eating a lot, he looks terrible. He hasn't shaved or anything." She said.

"I saw him tonight." Will said. "At the hospital, he does look like he could be taking better care of himself."

"He told me he saw you at the hospital." Abigail said. "He was upset because Ari didn't want to have anything to do with him."

Will's eyes met hers. "Arianna was tired and grumpy from her nap." He said, "She wouldn't even let you hold her." He defended his daughter.

"I know." Abigail answered. "That's what I told him, but he wasn't hearing it."

"Well that's all it was." Will said, getting frustrated.

"How are things with Paul?" Abigail asked suddenly, changing the subject.

"Good." Will said. "Things are really good."

"Cool." She said. "He seems like a really good guy. "I'm actually kind of surprised that I didn't find him here."

"Umm no." Will said. "He left a little bit ago, going back to the hotel."

"Oh…." She said. "So you two haven't… umm…been together?" she asked, blushing.

Will looked at her strangely, but shook his head no.

"Why not?" She asked, "I mean, he's really hot." She teased.

"We are just taking things slow." Will said. "There's no need to rush into that, we have plenty of time."

"Are you in love with him?" She said, studying his face.

Will thought about that for a minute, "I think I could easily fall in love with him." He said. "But, I'm not there quite yet."

"Why?" Abigail asked. "Are you scared to fall in love again?"

Will laughed, "We have been together a very short time, wouldn't it be weird if I loved him already?" he asked. "Besides, I don't want to make any mistakes that I may regret." He said, echoing Paul's concern.

Abigail nodded. "So there is nothing holding you back, you're just taking your time?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Will said. "What would be holding me back?" he asked.

"I don't know." Abigail said. "I thought maybe there was a chance you were holding on to the past."

"You mean Sonny?" Will asked.

Abigail nodded silently.

"You of all people know how much I loved Sonny, I don't have to tell you how hard getting over him was for me." Will said.

"Are you over him?" She asked.

Will remained silent, mulling over his feelings for a few minutes.

"What difference does that make now? Sonny has his life and I have mine." Will said. "We just weren't meant to be."

"But if you still love Sonny…." She started, and then stopped abruptly, closing her mouth again.

She wasn't sure she wanted to get in the middle of this. She had promised Sonny that she would do this for him, but she really did like and respect Paul. Paul was good to Will, and Will had seemed happier than he had been in a long time. Sometimes she hated being a mutual cousin to both of them. She didn't know what the right thing to do here was. But she didn't want Will to find out five years from now that she knew that Sonny still loved him and she never said anything…

"It doesn't matter," Will said. "Even if I did still love him… he is with Brian, he knew that I loved him for a long time and he ignored me. He knew it would break my heart when he accepted Brian's proposal but he did it anyway. He is over me, and that's all that matters."

"Will….." She said. "Sonny loves you. He told me so, tonight."

Will looked at her. "What?" he asked dumfounded.

"He still loves you, he never stopped." She said. "He knows that now."

"Because Brian is gone…. All the sudden he loves me again?" Will said.

"No." Abigail said. "He loved you all along, he was just too stubborn to admit it."

"So, why now then?" Will said. "That doesn't make sense."

"He sees now that he is losing you." Abigail said. "I know this is crappy timing Will, but if there is even a remote chance that you two can make it…"

"So…. Someone else has to want me, before he decides that he loves me?" Will asked. "What happens when that threat is gone? Is he just going to toss me back to the curb?" he was getting angry, but he really didn't understand why.

"Will…." Abigail said. "I don't know what is going on in Sonny's mind. I only know what he told me, and that is he still loves you. He always did. And he wants you back."

"I can't do this again." Will said. "I thought I was going to die, the first time. I don't want to go back through that again."

"But if you still love him….. isn't it worth the risk?" She asked. "Please just talk to him." She said, Handing him her phone with Sonny's picture on the front. All he had to do was press the send button and it would dial the number for him.

Will looked at him and then took the phone . He pressed the send button and put the phone up to his ear before he could change his mind. He listened as the phone rang a couple of times and then Sonny's voice came on the line.

"Hello…." He said.

"Sonny." Will said, "It's Will." He continued unnecessarily.

"Hey!" Sonny said, hope blooming in his voice.

"Hey," Will answered. "Sorry to call so late but I think we need to talk." He said.

"Okay." Sonny said. "Now?"

"No…" Will said. "I was thinking we could meet tomorrow."

"Sure." Sonny said. "Why don't you come over to the apartment about noon?"

"Sounds good." Will said. "See you then."

He disconnected the call and handed Abigail her phone back, "So since you are pushing me toward Sonny, I take it that you don't like Paul." He said.

"Actually, I like Paul a lot." She said. "I just don't want you to go through life wondering what if…."

"Ahhh." Will said.

"I gotta go, it's after One AM and you need to get some rest." She said. "Do you want me to take Arianna tomorrow?"

"No, Paul is taking her out for a lunch play date. He just doesn't know it yet." Will said laughing.

"Okay then Night Will." She said getting up going to the door.

"Night… and thanks for everything, I know you are just trying to help." Will said.

She waved and closed the door behind her.

Will pushed himself up off the couch, locked the door, checked on Ari, and then went into the bedroom and numbly going through his nightly routine, thinking about Sonny all the while.

Soon he climbed beneath the covers and turned his thoughts to Paul. Wondering what he was going to do…


	20. Chapter 20

Will stepped off the elevator at Sonny's apartment building. He took a few deep breaths as he walked down the hall. He was extremely nervous and his stomach was churning. He actually felt as if he may vomit. "Come on Will, get it together…" he muttered under his breath, "You have to get this behind you before you can move forward with Paul." He said continuing his little pep talk to himself. He hurried on down the hall to the door, knocking quickly before he chickened out and went back to the elevator.

It was only a second before the door was wrenched open and Sonny stood there looking as nervous as Will felt. "Hey." He croaked, before clearing his throat, "Come on in." he offered, stepping aside so that Will could enter.

Will smiled nervously and walked in. He looked around, taking in the apartment. From the way Abigail had talked Sonny was not really taking care of himself and Will honestly had expected to find a mess. There were stacks of unopened mail piled on the table by the door, a few pieces of clothes scattered here and there, but otherwise everything looked pretty normal.

"Have a seat." Sonny said, taking the clothes off the end of the couch and tossing them into the basket sitting in the corner. "I was going to clean up this morning, but I over slept... Once I finally fell asleep." He said apologetically.

"No Problem." Will said,"My apartment is always in a mess, thanks to Arianna. I didn't realize that you needed so much stuff to take care of a baby… then a toddler." He rambled nervously.

"You want something to drink?" Sonny asked. "I have beer, water, Gatorade ... Or I think I have some whiskey."

"Water is fine." Will said.

"Right." Sonny said. He went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water for Will. He went back to the living room and handed it to Will.

Will took it from him, he opened it and took a small sip. He was trying to think of the best way to begin. He didn't know what to say first… "Sonny.. I think" he began.

"Actually Will... I need to go first." Sonny rushed out."If you don't mind." He said, looking at Will warily before he stood up and started pacing. "There is so much that I want to say." He turned to look at Will. "So much that I should have said months ago."

Will nodded silently, indicating that he should go ahead and go first.

Sonny shoved his hand through his already disheveled hair. "Will... I..." He stopped and sat down on the couch near Will, twisting so that he was facing him. He reached out to touch him, but stilled his hands when he saw Will tense up. He supposed he deserved that, and dropped his hands back into his own lap.  
"Will... I" he stopped again, trying to get the things he wanted to say in order in his head. "I don't think you should be with Paul." He blurted out, looking at Will carefully.

Will's eyes widened. "Are you serious right now... That's all you have to say to me?" He said. "And to be honest I'm a little confused about why you think you have a say in who I am with, because you don't... Not at all, you gave up that right a long time ago." His voice rose with anger.

"I care about you Will... I never stopped." Sonny said sighing. Why was it soo hard to say what he needed to say. Why couldn't he make it come out right?

"You sure as hell have a funny way of showing it." Will said angrily, "You ignored me for months, even went out of your way to avoid me..."

"I know and I'm sorry that I did that to you, I should have been an adult about it and talked to you... But I didn't do that and that's on me." Sonny said sadly. "I know now that I should have waited after we broke up, given myself some time to figure out what I really wanted... Honestly, I never should have jumped headfirst into my relationship with Brian."

"No you shouldn't have." Will agreed, "I begged you for a second chance... I pleaded with you to just let me explain, and you wouldn't listen to me, you wouldn't give me a chance to say anything." He said sadly.

"I wish I would have." Sonny said. "You don't know how many times in the past few weeks, that I have wished I had stopped to listen to you, I wish that I could go back and take back every single moment that I walked away from you."

"These past few weeks?" Will said skeptically, "What you mean is since I have been with Paul…. Right?" Will asked angrily.

"Yes." Sonny answered honestly.

"You don't get to do this." Will said. "You don't get to play with my emotions now... Just because there is someone else in my life that is showing some interest in me. Someone that I can actually see myself with."

"That's not it." Sonny said. "I should have told you all of this a long time ago."

"Then why didn't you?" Will asked him.

"Because I was trying to do the right thing." Sonny wailed. "I didn't want to hurt Brian... He didn't... He doesn't deserve any of this."

Will stared at him incredulously, not believing what he was hearing right now... "You didn't want to hurt Brian?" He asked. "But you didn't give a damn about hurting me, is that it?" Will shrieked at him. "Well yeah of course I totally agree with you Brian is the completely innocent party right... He wasn't constantly waiting in the wings, dropping hints that he wanted you, that he would do anything to get you. He was always there ready to swoop down on you the second that I made a mistake, and that's exactly what he did. You can say what you want, but he orchestrated your relationship; he manipulated you, and made sure that you would never come back to me. And YOU allowed that to happen…. So yeah, you're right you should definitely make protecting his feelings your top priority." Will ranted bitterly… anger was practically radiating out of him.

"That's not even what I said, you are twisting my words, and Brian didn't do anything but support me through our break up….." Sonny said getting angry too. "We broke up, because YOU HURT ME, Will... Do you understand that?"

"Do you think I don't know that?" Will asked. "Do you think for one minute that I wouldn't go back and change the way I handled that situation if I could? That I wouldn't tell you the truth if I had a second chance. I know it was MY fault, Alone, I was the one that FUCKED UP…."

"Would you really change things , if you had the assurance that you wouldn't get caught ? Or would you only change it because you know that you got tangled up in the web of lies that you created?" Sonny asked. "Hindsight is 20/20, or so they say."

"Yeah I would tell you the truth, from the beginning, If I could go back... Because as it turned out I lost you anyway." Will said. "So it didn't make much of a difference, no matter what I did."

"You wouldn't have lost me if you had just been honest with me." Sonny said sadly. "That's the real fucked up part of this whole useless situation... If you had only trusted me with the truth... We would still be together. Sure, I would have been freaked out but we could have worked it out, I would have come around."

"You would have stayed with me?" Will asked shocked. "How would I ever have known that? All you talked about back then was us travelling the world together, that was your dream…. Were we supposed to do that with an infant in tow?"

Sonny nodded. "Dreams change Will! I loved you, more than I had ever loved anyone in my life. Of course I would have stayed with you."

"Then why didn't you?" Will wailed, "Why didn't you listen to me when I tried over and over and over again to tell you that I was sorry, that lying to you was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life."

"Because I was hurt... I felt like my whole world crumbled beneath me, Everything that I trusted and believed in was gone. You were everything in my life that made life worth living for me… And you took that away from me." Sonny said, tears forming in his eyes. "I couldn't even look at you, without feeling like my heart was being physically ripped from my chest."

"So instead of fighting for me, for everything that made your life worth living... Fighting for us... You turned to Brian." Will asked, not understanding, "It was too hard for you to put the past behind us and try to work out our differences, so the simple solution was to just start a new life with someone else."

"Please try to understand that Brian showed up at a time when I needed someone to help me find myself again, I didn't know who I was without you." Sonny explained. "He reminded me of who I am, and I in the process I fell in love with him. Maybe not the kind of love we had. But I do love him."

"So you keep saying ..." Will said exasperated. "I guess I should say that I am glad that you were able to find yourself again, after I apparently ruined your life... It took me all of this time, but I have finally made my peace with your relationship with Brian."

"Since Paul?" Sonny asked, repeating Will's question from earlier.

"Yes and no." Will said, wanting to be as honest as he could. "I decided a long time ago that I needed you in my life in some way, you were not only my boyfriend, you were my best friend. And when everything happened, I lost both of those things at one time. Life was difficult at best, the only reason for me to get out of bed, to continue moving was for my baby girl. She kept me going. So living without you wasn't an option for me. I did what I had to do, I pushed my feelings aside and accepted the friendship that you offered me. But even still, I dreamed of you, that you would come back to me. I waited for you for months to realize that I was the one you wanted... But it never happened, and I cried myself to sleep more times than I care to remember." He stopped and met Sonny's eyes. "It haunted me for a long time, but now that Paul is in my life, he is changing me, filling my life with a happiness that I haven't felt in a while. And having that in my life makes me realize that I can let you go and just be truly happy for you, that you found your forever love...He had shown me that there is life after you for me and I can finally be the friend that you need me to be."

"Do you love him?" Sonny asked abruptly.

"I have only been with him for a few weeks, but he makes me happy, he spends time with me , he supports me and my decisions, he encourages me and pushes me to go after the things I want.." Will said. "He is a really good man, and he loves my baby girl... So yeah, what's not to love?"

"You named off A lot of reasons to love him... But you didn't actually say you DO love him." Sonny pointed out.

Will sat quietly for a minute... Thinking about his answer carefully. "Yes, I think I do." He said. "I think Paul could be my happily ever after."

Sonny felt like a knife twisted in his heart. Emotion welled up within him. "So that's it then?" He asked forcing the words out around the lump that had formed in his throat, tears falling down his face. "You are just going to forget about what you wanted for soo long, what you could still have… All you have to do is reach out and take it" he said brokenly... "Now who is giving up without a fight?"

"I don't know what you want from me." Will said, his voice cracking with emotion. Was Sonny offering him that second chance? It sounded like that was what he was saying, but too much has happened, too much to turn back now. If he gave in to Sonny now… then he would never truly know if Sonny wanted him because he loved him… or if it was because Paul wanted him now…

"I want you to admit to yourself that you still love me." Sonny cried... "That you still want me..."

"Don't do that... What good would it do, we are two different people now... And there is Brian and Paul to consider." Will said, wiping tears from his face.

"Yes... Consider Brian and Paul." Sonny said. "I have already hurt Brian by dragging him into this mess... But we don't have to hurt Paul. You can just tell him before its too late... That you are still in love with me and that we are going to work things out."

"All of that is in the past." Will said stubbornly. "I get that now... I'm sorry that I caused you so much pain, and I am glad that we managed to salvage at least our friendship. But I am not with Paul because I couldn't have you.., If that is what you think… you are wrong. I am with him because he makes my life better. You have Brian, and no matter what he did to get you, I do believe that he loves you, I just hope he realizes how lucky he is to have you. I won't stand in your way anymore, I am with Paul, and I am really lucky to have found him, so please let me have some peace." He pleaded , looking at Sonny.

"You're wrong." Sonny said brokenly. "You aren't the lucky one, he is... Paul is very lucky to have you in his life."

Tears flowed down Will's face, "Thank you for saying that." He said. "It means a lot to me."

"I mean it." Sonny said, reaching out and taking Will's hand.

Will allowed him to twine their fingers together, looking down at them. He had seen that sight a million times, and longed for it a million more times than that over the last two years…. But sometimes life had other plans.

He looked at Sonny.. "For the record, I do love you Sonny... And I always will, you were the first person that I ever loved. I just wasn't strong enough to trust that you loved me as much as I loved you back then... If I had maybe things would be different now, but we can't go back and change the past... And I don't think we should, even if it was possible. I would probably just end up hurting you even worse in the long run... Good bye Sonny. I will see you around." He said leaning forward and kissing him gently on the cheek.

Will pushed himself off of the couch, letting go of Sonny's hands, a sob ripped from his throat as he practically ran to the door. His hand reached out, blindly searching for the knob. He had to get out of there, this was hurting him way more than it should. It wasn't as if he was never going to see Sonny again, he was just letting go of the past. It shouldn't be ripping his heart to shreds like it was. He jerked the door open...

"Will... Wait please." Sonny cried behind him.

Will hesitated, then considered dashing on out the door... But the memories of how badly it had hurt him when Sonny had disregarded his pleas to just wait one second.., were too fresh in his mind. The times he had begged him to just please just listen, were playing on a loop, the hopelessness that he had felt in those moments, welled up within him and he couldn't hurt Sonny like that. Hesitantly he turned to face him... "Yeah?"

Sonny crossed the room, advancing on him until they were toe to toe. "I have to say this, So that you know without a shadow of a doubt… I will never forgive myself if I don't." He said.

Sonny reached for Will's hands again, taking them in his own. He looked at their joined hands for what felt like a very long time.

Will was beginning to wonder if he was going to speak... Until finally he did.

Sonny raised his eyes and met Will's determinedly; his brown eyes were swimming in a sea of tears. "I love you Will... I always have, I never stopped for one minute...and I always will, until the day I die. I am so sorry that I hurt you and pushed you away. You are all I ever wanted, and I know I have a mess of all this, but I want things to be the way they were supposed to be. Please say you will come back to me." He said.

Will's eyes widened. He couldn't believe that Sonny had just said the words that he had longed to hear for almost two years. Those words had been all he ever dreamed of, all he had wanted and prayed for…. He shook his head and opened his mouth...

Sonny reached up and covered his mouth. "Don't say anything yet. Think about it...decide what you really want." He said, "And if that's Paul then I will accept that, somehow, and we will never talk about this again." He cupped Will's face in his hands. "I only ask that you be completely honest with yourself, and only worry about what you want... Not what is right or wrong ... Don't make the same mistake I did." He urged. "PLEASE…"

Will nodded yes.

"Thank you." Sonny breathed. He leaned forward and replaced his hand with his lips pressing them against Will's, in a simple kiss. Not pushing him for anything, just a simple meeting of their lips.

Will's eyes slid closed... He had dreamt of this moment for so long... But somehow it didn't feel like he imagined that it might... His lips were soft, like they always were, exactly how Will remembered them, but they were…. Wrong… not as full as Paul's...

Paul... Will thought the name and recoiled from Sonny's kiss. He stumbled backwards and bolted out the door without another word.

Sonny was almost too stunned to move. He closed the door automatically and went back to the couch. He sat down and laid his head back... Now all he could do was wait... And pray that Will would chose him...


	21. Chapter 21

Will was numb, that was a good word for it, completely numb…. He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to be feeling. The possibilities were endless. Shock, hurt, anger, sadness, bitterness, hope, happiness, nervousness…. Each one of those things applied to him right now, but he couldn't feel any of them. Mostly all he felt was confusion.

He couldn't really remember how he had gotten home, but he was there. He was lying across his bed, his head spinning, filled with all the things that Sonny had said to him, with the decision that he had to make. With the offer that Sonny had held back until today. Paul or Sonny… Sonny or Paul…. Which one did he really want? Someone was going to be hurt…. It was inevitable, and it sucked.

Sonny wanted him back, NOW…. Now that he had moved on… and there was someone else in the picture that wanted him…. Sonny was offering him his dream on a silver platter. When no one else wanted him, Sonny had been content to leave him alone, and now all of the sudden he felt the urgent need to reopen the wounds of the past… Wounds that were just now starting to close and heal for Will. And it wasn't fair. Not that anyone had ever said life was fair. But Sonny was giving him what he had prayed for every night for months on end…. And all he had to do was reach out and take it. It would be that easy. Could he really walk away now?

He wasn't sure…. But he also wasn't sure that what Sonny was offering, was even what he still wanted… What was it that Sonny had said….. Dreams change. Somewhere along the way, this last couple of weeks his own dreams had changed. Paul had come charging in like a white knight, driving out the nightmare that Will had been living in.

Maybe If he hadn't met Paul, he wouldn't even have to think about it for one second. Maybe it would be the easiest decision he ever made. He could just take Sonny's hand and never look back… but…

He had met Paul, and come to know him and, he had allowed him into his life, into his daughters life. And he had already changed Will so much. Paul had reminded him of his self worth; he had given back a part of himself that had been missing since Sonny had walked away from him. He no longer felt like an outsider peeking into the window of someone else's life. Paul knew his faults and didn't seem to mind them much. It would be hard to imagine that Paul would push him away because of a mistake without giving him a chance, and listening to his explanation.

The same could not be said for Sonny, he had turned a deaf ear to all of Will's pleas. Sonny had torn his world apart. Well. Yeah okay… Truth be told, Will had done that himself by lying. He was well aware of that. He knew the fault was his. But Sonny could have listened to him. He could have fought for their love, if he valued it at all…. But he didn't fight, not at all. It had seemed all too easy for him to walk away. Will was not sure what would happen if he did go back to Sonny. He could go back and things could be absolutely perfect or he could go back and screw up again. What could happen then was scary. Was Sonny going to toss him away again, like a piece of garbage, the way he had the first time? He had to face that possibility and decide if it was worth the risk…. Facts are facts, He is a product of Sami Brady, who is the queen of fucking up every single good thing that ever happened to her, and at least a little of that had trickled down to him. No matter how hard he tried to be a better person, there would always be a small part of him that was prone to disaster, capable of destroying the good things in his life.

His thoughts turned to Paul. He had been something very special from the very beginning. Will had felt an instant connection with him, he was attracted to him from the start. Okay, so that wasn't exactly shocking, front page news considering that he was absolutely gorgeous. But it was more than that, more than a superficial physical connection. He had told Paul more about himself during that first lunch than he shared with most people that he had known his whole life. Paul cared about him, and he had shown that over and over again. He had even encouraged Will to talk to Sonny, to figure out what he wanted. He was amazing with Arianna, and Arianna adored him too. They had already created a unique bond between the two of them.

Paul was more than he could ever have dreamed up for himself, he was ridiculously handsome, caring, kind, honest, chivalrous, the list could go on and on… He would be completely crazy to give that up for someone that had already tossed him to the curb once already… wouldn't he?

Will was pulled from his inner monologue by a knock on the door. "Coming," he called. He had been expecting Paul, Arianna had spent the day with him today, and Paul was supposed to bring her home and Will had asked earlier if he wanted to order dinner in and watch an old movie or something. He had thought he would be fine after talking to Sonny and he and Paul could just carry on… but he wasn't counting on Sonny throwing him that huge curve ball. He wished now that he had taken Abigail up on her offer to watch Arianna. He was surprised to see that it was getting pretty close to Six pm. He pushed himself up off the bed, wondering if it would hurt Paul's feelings much if he bailed on dinner and the movie. He had a lot of thinking that he needed to do.

Will made his way to the door and pulled it door, and was surprised to see Lucas standing there holding Arianna.

"What are you doing with her?" Will asked , catching her as she lunged for him. "Hey Angel." He said kissing her forehead. She wound her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. He directed his attention back to His dad. "Where's Paul?" He asked.

"I ran into them in the park. They were over there eating ice cream and playing. Isn't that right Ari." Lucas said tickling her side. "You were having a good time with Paul huh?"

Arianna giggled, "Ice Cweam!" She said nodding happily.

"So you just took her from him, and he let you have her?" Will asked still confused.

"Can we go in? ... And I will answer all of your questions." Lucas said.

"Oh yeah!" Will said , moving aside. "Sorry..."

They moved out of the doorway and into the living room. Lucas closed the door behind him, went over and sat down on the couch.

"So I was cutting through the park on the way back from dropping Ali off with your mom and I saw Paul playing with Ari there on the playground, I figured you must be there somewhere too, so I went over to say hi. When I didn't see you, I asked where you were and Paul said that you were with Sonny." Lucas explained. "He said you two were trying to settle things between you."

"Yeah, I went to see him, to talk about the past, you know when we broke up, and the months after that... " Will said.

"Why would you do that?" Lucas asked , "All of that is in the past and besides, I thought things were going good with Paul. You seemed really happy the other day."

"They are and I was…" Will said. "But you know that Sonny was my first love."

"And he walked away from you..." Lucas said. "Don't forget that."

"I know he did." Will said. "But he says he still loves me."

"What now? He still loves you now! Sucks for him..."Lucas said snidely.

"And for me too." Will said. "I didn't want to have to choose between them, I loved Sonny, I begged God for another chance with him. What if this is my sign that we are supposed to be together?"

"Come on man… The choice is obvious Will, wake up." Lucas said, snapping his fingers in front of Will's face. "Don't let Sonny mess this up for you. He wasn't professing his love before Paul was he?"

Will shook his head no... He knew Lucas was right, Sonny hadn't given him a second thought before Paul had shown up, but now all the sudden he was in love again. "I know but getting Sonny back has been all I have wanted ever since he left me." Will said, indecision warring in his mind.

"Okay, I get that." Lucas said , "Sometimes though, people don't love you….. until you don't love them anymore." He gave that a minute to sink in. "I know how you loved Sonny, and I know that you suffered a lot when you two broke up… But he had his chance. Give Paul a chance. He deserves it, and you deserve happiness."

Will looked at him. "Thanks dad." He said, hugging Ari close. "Now why do you have Arianna?" he asked, remembering that Paul was supposed to be the one to bring Arianna home.

"Oh yeah… Paul asked if I would mind bringing her home. He said he thought today was going to be emotional for you and he had a feeling that you may not be up to having him over tonight." Lucas said. "And judging from the way you look, he wasn't wrong."

"Yeah, he knows me almost better than I know myself." Will agreed.

"People like that don't come around often son." Lucas said, standing up, "I have to go, and you need time to figure out what you want. Make a smart choice."

"Thanks." Will muttered, "Thanks for bringing Arianna home, and for the pep talk."

Lucas shrugged. "I've made a lot of mistakes…. I just don't want to see you repeat any of them." He said, heading for the door.

After the door closed behind Lucas, Will looked down at Arianna.. "What are we going to do baby girl?" he asked. He pushed all the thoughts from his mind… all the thoughts of responsibility, all the guilt about hurting anyone… he discarded every single thought about what ANYONE else wanted. Then he closed his eyes, and concentrated on one thing…. And that was what he wanted… Once he did that the decision was practically made for him.

Paul walked into the hotel room and tossed the key on the bedside table. He wasn't sure that he had done the right thing by chickening out and sending Lucas to take Arianna to Will. But he wasn't ready to hear that Will was going back to Sonny.

He knew Sonny well enough to know that Sonny wanted Will, and he would pull out all the stops to get him back.

Paul was sure that Will really cared about him, but Sonny had been his first love. He knew from experience that getting over a first love could seem as if it were an insurmountable obstacle. Will had already been having a hard time with it. He had held Will as he cried over Sonny. He hadn't thought all that much about it, not until he had heard the rumors at therapy… They were all soo proud of their great Med student that had gotten the internship at John's Hopkins and was working out of town for a few more weeks….. Then he had seen Sonny at the hospital, looking like hell, talking to Will and he knew that spelled trouble.

He had wanted to give Will space to make his decision. He didn't want to pressure him, rush him or crowd him. He just hoped Will didn't drag it out. He loved Arianna more with each passing day, and her dad wasn't far behind. The longer it went on, the harder it would be to let go…


	22. Chapter 22

Two long agonizing days of waiting, were pure hell, that was what Sonny had been through, in the last 48 hours. He would guess that he had picked up the phone a million times to call Will, to text him, looking just to check and see if by some sick twist of fate, he may have missed a call. He looked at his call log to see if he had any missed calls. Went to his messages, seeking Will's name, looking to make sure his phone had not failed him. It hadn't rang, and even though he hadn't been more than two feet from his phone at any given moment, he still checked it at least once an hour, and each time he did, there was the same result, there was nothing there, just a blank screen staring back at him.

He hadn't left the apartment, not even for a minute. He had called Chad and asked him to take over at the club. He didn't want to miss Will if he came by, but with every hour that passed he was fast losing hope. He was becoming more and more despondent. He didn't want to be around people. He was tired, on edge and snappy, even with his own reflection. He was better off being alone.

Will was going to take him back ... Right? He had to, Will loved him, and Sonny knew that, without a shadow of a doubt. In fact before Paul had come to town and ruined everything, he could see it every time Will looked at him. He could practically feel it whenever they were in the same room. Before Paul, things were very different…

Paul being here, in Salem, had changed a lot of things... Will was different somehow. Sonny forced himself to think about the last few times he had seen Will… He was arguably less mopey and seemed to be happier, he was less... clingy... Well, clingy was not quite the word he had been looking for, Will was never clingy, but he was around more.. he had spent a lot of time at the club. Now, since Paul had shown up Will didn't come around near as often as he used to.. And sometimes when Will talked about Paul, Sonny saw a sparkle in Will's eyes... A sparkle that had been absent for nearly two years.

Sonny groaned aloud... "Oh God...he moaned to the empty room." He felt despair take up residence in his heart. "You waited too long... Will is already in love with Paul... And it is too late for you." That little voice in the back of his mind mocked him….Those words reverberated in his head. He had been soo sure that Will would never love anyone else, he thought that he pursuing a relationship with Paul, to try to make Sonny think that he was moving on, maybe even to fool himself into thinking that he was moving on, sort of a pride thing. But he hadn't been doing that at all, he had actually been moving on...

Sonny felt a tear slip out of his eye and slide down his face, followed by countless others. He had been so stupid… How had he missed the signs when they were right there in front of him? If nothing else set off any alarms, the night he had babysat Arianna for Abigail sure should have... Will had yelled at him, throwing crazy accusations around, No not crazy, they were based in nothing but truth, and it seemed that Will remembered every single horrible word he had ever uttered to him...because he had brought those up, in great detai. He had defended Paul...and he had done that because he was in love with him. No...he ruthlessly pushed that thought away. He was being paranoid, and remembering things wrong… Will had said he didn't love Paul. Wasn't that what he had said? He had said that he couldn't love him, because he hadn't known him that long…. right?

Sonny forced himself to think back to that precise moment, to remember Will's exact words... "Yeah... I think maybe I do..." That was what he had said. Word for word. A sob ripped from his throat, chasing away the silence that shrouded the apartment. Will was going to choose Paul and there was nothing that he could do to stop it... Nothing he could do now that would change Will's mind.

He curled up on the sofa, letting the tears fall freely. He had lost Will, for good. He could feel it deep down inside, and there was no one to blame but himself.

Hours later ... When the sun was no longer streaming in through the windows, and the darkness that enveloped his heart and colored his mood, also painted every nook and cranny of the room, there was a knock at the door... Will... He thought, his heart swelling with hope.

He jumped up and scrambled over to the door and flinging it open. Ready to pull Will into his arms and never let him go again.

"Paul?" He said in confusion... "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk." Paul said, "Is it okay if I come in?"

"Guess so..." Sonny said, walking away, leaving the door open for him to enter if he chose to do so.

Paul came in and closed the door quietly behind him.

Sonny dropped back onto the couch. He had a sick feeling of dread in his stomach. Paul being here, did not feel like a good sign. "I guess you're here to gloat." He said. "You may as well go ahead and get it over with," he said. "I guess I deserve whatever you could say after all I put Will through."

"Actually, I don't have anything to gloat about, I haven't talked to Will since the morning he was here to see you." Paul said, "I came by to check on you and see how you are doing"

"What do you care? What difference could how I am doing possibly make to you?" Sonny snapped.

"I know that you still love Will, I know that you told him so and that you asked him for another chance." Paul said. "I'm sure this hasn't been easy for you. And I know it hasn't been easy on Will."

"So you just thought you would come here with your fake concern, pretending that you give a damn about me?" Sonny asked dejectedly. "You're the one trying to take him away from me."

"I am not trying to take Will away from anyone, let alone you. If you remember correctly, I came here for you… and you held up a ring and told me you were engaged the first time I saw you at the club. And it sure wasn't to Will."

Sonny looked at him, his eyes wild with emotion. "But you knew that I didn't want you to date him, I came to you and asked you not to. I asked you to leave him out of our mess. But you went on and did what you wanted, just like always, ignoring everyone else's feelings, but your own. So don't come here with your lies about how you never meant for this to happen."

"Believe it or not, I do care about your feelings, and that isn't a lie." Paul said. "That's why I am here." He sat down on the other end of the couch. "I loved you once, loved you a lot actually... And it never goes away, not completely."

"Yeah, you loved me soo much that you chose baseball over me….." Sonny said, glaring at him.

Paul sighed heavily. "Seriously Sonny... You have to let that go. We have been over and over it, and it is in the past." he said. "I followed my dream... And you would have done the same thing, if the tables had been turned."

"Maybe... Maybe not." Sonny said stubbornly. "I guess we will never know."

"Look, believe whatever you want."Paul said, "This isn't what I came here to talk about anyway."

"Then what do you want?" Sonny asked. "You want to know if I have heard from Will? Well you can relax because I haven't, now take your misplaced empathy for the situation that you created and get the hell out of here." He ranted.

"I know that you believe that I purposefully went after Will to hurt you or make you jealous... And I wanted you to know that I didn't plan any of this." Paul said. "We met, and something just clicked and I fell for him... Hard."

"If you would have just left Will alone like I asked you too." Sonny said, "Things would be very different right now."

"Yeah, you're right, they would be." Paul acknowledged. "Will would be miserable and alone and things with you and Brian would be right on track…."

"That's not what I meant." Sonny sneered. "Will wouldn't have any trouble coming back to me if it wasn't for you. He wouldn't have even had to think about it for a second."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that." Paul said. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news… but that guy Brian… you know, your fiancé, you remember him right?... he is sort of standing in the way of your happily ever after with Will, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Not that it is any of your business but I plan on going and telling him in person, I think he deserves at least that much…" Sonny said.

"Ah, I see well good luck with that." Paul said. "I really didn't come here to fight. I wanted to be honest with you, and tell you that I hope that Will chooses me, it will break me, if he doesn't because I honestly think he deserves to be with someone that Will love him and support him despite his faults. But if he does choose you, If that is what he really wants, then I will not stand in his way. His happiness is what's important to me. And once this is all over, no matter what happens, I hope that we can put all of these hard feelings behind us and be civil to each other maybe even be friends."

Sonny snickered. "You think I could ever forgive you, for what you have done?" he asked.

"I haven't done anything except fall in love, and I am truly sorry that it cost you even a minute's pain." Paul said, getting up and walking toward the door. "I can see that this was a bad idea. So I will see you around." He said. "Good bye Sonny."

Sonny sat on the couch motionless long after he heard the soft click of the door closing behind Paul. It seemed that Will wasn't the only one that had changed.

Where was the Paul that he knew all those years ago. It certainly wasn't the man that had just walked out of his apartment. Since when had Paul given a damn about anyone besides himself? When had he ever been concerned about someone else's feelings? NEVER, that's when. Sonny thought to himself. The Paul that he knew back then would do whatever it took to get his way… well whatever it took aside from going public…. But he had done that, hadn't he. He had been seen all over town, hugging Will, kissing Will, Hell he had allowed Will to write an article announcing it to the world.

He was bitter that it had happened now. But not for the reason's that he had always thought he would be. He would have thought that he would be bitter because he did for someone else, but in truth, he was bitter because Paul was free to be with Will whenever and however he wanted. The fact that he hadn't been enough for Paul to want to do that for him, was irritating, but not really all that painful. He hadn't been enough for Paul to even consider coming out. Every single time Sonny brought it up, Paul shut him down, he would start a make out session, change the subject, get off the phone, leave the room, whatever he needed to do to avoid the conversation, that's what he did.

Sonny laid his head back against the couch, Will needed to hurry this the hell up, he was not going to be able to take much more…..

Paul wandered around town until he finally ended up in the park, ironically at the playground where he had last played with Arianna. He went over to the bench and sat down. If he concentrated hard enough he could almost hear Ari's laughter as he pushed her on the swings.

Will and Arianna had changed his life. They had filled up all the empty spots with love and laughter, and driven out all of the loneliness that had plagued him since he had hurt his arm. Paul had been through some really dark days when he had gotten the news that he would never play ball again. Everything that was a constant in his life was gone in a split second, with one little sentence from the surgeon.

All he had been able to think about at that time was that he had to get control over his life, and to do that he needed familiarity and routine. His thoughts had immediately turned to Sonny. If he could get Sonny back, then everything would level out again. Sonny could bring order back to his world. So he had purposefully looked for him, searched him out and came to this town on a mission to get him back, no matter who was in the way, or what the consequences were.

But then Sonny had shot him down, cold. He had held up a wedding band and dashed Paul's hopes at normalcy. Then it had become a challenge… not a necessity, just a challenge. And to be honest, looking back in hind sight Sonny telling him no, hadn't hurt him nearly as much as it should have, not if he was supposed to love him beyond measure.. right? And then faith had intervened and there had been Will.

Will was unlike anyone he had ever met before. He was a breath of fresh air. And Paul was enamored right from the start. Will had changed him, whether he knew it or not Will was making him a better person, molding him into the kind of person that he should have been all along. For the first time in this life, someone else's feelings mattered more than his own, he wanted someone else's happiness over anything that he wanted or needed.

He closed his eyes, trying to think of his future without Will. It was bleak, and lonely looking. It honestly didn't look appealing at all. He was beginning to wish that he had taken advantage of just one of those times that they had come dangerously close to making love. That kind of physical closeness, created a special type of bond. One that Will already had with Sonny from the past. It was kind of a double edged sword. On one hand, if he had done that the bond may have been advantageous. But only the other hand he was glad that they had avoided it so far… because it would be a million times harder to let him go and he was already going to have it difficult if it come to that.

He really wanted to go across the street and literally beg Will, if that were necessary to just choose him, but he would not do that. He refused to make this more difficult for Will than it had to be.

Paul was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he did not realize that he was not alone.

"Paul?" a soft voice drew him out of him thoughts.

He turned on the bench, looking to see who had called him.

"Mrs. Dimera?" he asked, "What are you doing out so late? He asked, frowning down at his watch when he saw that it was nearing ten at night.

"I had to meet Lucas for dinner to talk about the kids." She said. "He can't come to the mansion because he and EJ fight like little kids on the playground at school..." she laughed.

"Ahh" He said, chuckling with her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "It's getting pretty late."

"Thinking." He said honestly.

"About anything in particular?" she asked.

Paul nodded, "About your son actually." He said.

"Oh?" she asked.

"Yeah." He said without elaborating. "Want to sit down?" he asked, sliding over making room.

She sat down and put her purse in her lap. "You know we never did get to finish our conversation the other day." She said.

Paul snickered , "You mean the interrogation?" Paul asked grinning at her.

"Well…. Yeah." Sami said, grinning back. She liked his easygoing sense of humor.

"Well, fire away." Paul said. "Ask me anything you like, but I should probably warn you that it may all be for nothing."

"Why would you say that?" She asked. "My son seems to be crazy about you."

"Well yeah, we were getting along pretty good." Paul admitted.

"Buttt…." Sami said, sensing there was something that Paul wasn't telling her.

"But Sonny still loves him and he told him so." Paul answered.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Sami asked. "Sonny had plenty of opportunities to tell him that over the last two years, before you arrived, before Will found happiness again. Back when he was miserable. And Sonny wasn't interested then. So what the hell is his problem now?"

"Well I guess he changed his mind." Paul said quietly.

"And let me guess… Will is going back to him" She asked, disbelieving. "God that boy is most definitely my son, he inherited my special knack for making exceedingly bad decisions."

"I don't want him to go back to Sonny, but I honestly don't know what he is going to do, I don't think he has made a decision yet." Paul said.

"Well that is ridiculous, and I am going to put a stop to this right now." She said. Standing up, preparing to march off into the night.

"Sami," Paul called, using her first name in his haste to catch her. "Please don't do that." He asked.

"Don't do what?" She said, "Don't stop my son from making a huge mistake?"

"Don't try and make this decision for him." Paul said, "He needs to make it alone with no outside interference. So that he can choose what is going to make him happy…."

"Didn't you just hear what I said, I love my son, but he is sometimes amazing at making terrible decisions." She started ticking off instances of his poor choices on her fingers. "He slept with Gabi knowing he is gay, he lost Sonny to start with because he lied..He.""

Paul held up a hand. "I heard you. He said. "And yeah Will makes precarious decisions sometimes because he is following his heart. How can I fault him for that. Will slept with Gabi and from that union came Arianna, who is a ray of sunshine to everyone around her. She brings happiness to everyone she comes into contact with. And actually he lost Sonny, not because he lied, but because he couldn't lie anymore. That's commendable. Will is a good person with a good heart. He will make the right decision for himself." Paul said.

Sami looked at him amazed. "Aren't you afraid you will lose him?" she asked.

"Terrified actually." Paul answered. "If Will chooses Sonny, it will devastate my life. But what I really want is for Will to be happy, and if Sonny is what it takes to accomplish that… then that is what I want for him."

"You really love my son, don't you?" she asked.

Paul nodded. "More than even I realized." He affirmed.

"Well, you taught me something about love tonight Paul Narita." Sami said, "Not a lot of people have the privilege of saying that." She said.

"I'm just a guy trying to do what's right for the person he loves." Paul said. "No matter the outcome, I don't know how smart that is."

"Well I think it is pretty smart, and it shows how much you love him..…." She said, "You have my word, I won't interfere, but I will say that if Will let's you get away, then he isn't as smart as I give him credit for." She said standing up, "I have to get home. I hope Will makes the right choice." She said.

"Thanks Mrs. Dimera." Paul said." Can I walk you home?" he asked, wanting to be polite.

"No, but Thanks." Sami said, "EJ is sending the car."

"Oh, well okay, Good night then." He called as she rounded the corner and disappeared from site.

He sat there a few more minutes, saying a prayer that he had done the right thing. Then he got up and walked back toward the hotel.

 **Author's note: In the next chapter Will makes his choice known. I know that there are several "teams" reading this. Some want Will/Sonny, some want Paul/Will, some want, Paul/Sonny… I know some people will be upset and may stop reading and I just want to take this opportunity to say Thanks for coming with me on this journey. I never knew that it was going to cause such a response. For those of you sticking around, there will be much more to come, hang on to your seatbelts… things are going to kick up a notch or two in the next few chapters.**


	23. Chapter 23

Will opened the door, to let Abigail in. "Hey, thanks for coming." He said.

"No problem." Abigail said. "Did you give any thought to our conversation the other day?" she asked, dropping her purse on the couch and picking up Arianna."

"Hello, pretty girl." She said kissing the baby's cheek. "

Arianna smiled and hugged her, then kissed her cheek sloppily.

Abigail giggled. "Thanks for that." She said, scrunching up her nose at the slobber she left behind.

As soon as she was satisfied she had greeted Abigail properly she squirmed to get down and happily ran off when her feet hit the floor.

Abigail wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and turned back to Will.

"You mean about Sonny?" Will asked.

Abigail nodded her head, "Yeah."

"Actually yeah I did." Will said. "I went to see Sonny the other day and we had a long talk."

"Oh you did?" She said, "Did you resolve anything?"

"No not really, but You were right, Sonny told me that he still loves me and he asked for another chance." Will said. "Needless to say, it's been a rough few days."

"You had a hard decision to make huh?" she said.

"I'll say." Will said, "Paul is AMAZING and I really, really have enjoyed our time together, and being with him is so easy because Arianna loves him already… but you know how much I wanted another chance with Sonny. It was literally all I could think about for months and months."

"So did you chose?" she asked.

Will nodded. "Yeah, I did, that's actually why you are here. I have to go and talk to both of them."

Abigail's head snapped up, "Together?" she asked surprised.

"God no… that would be a disaster waiting to happen…." Will said. "No, I am going to talk to each of them separately."

"Ohhhh." She said, "So you are going to break someone's heart and then make the other someone very happy?"

"Well, I don't know about very happy…." Will quipped.

"Oh come on, Will…. They are both crazy about you." Abigail said.

Will blushed, "Thanks for saying that." He said, "And thanks for telling me about Sonny, you were right, and I needed to hear it."

"So are you going to see Sonny or Paul first?" she asked.

"I will tell you when I come back." He said. "I think I should tell Paul and Sonny what I decided first… don't you?"

"I guess." Abigail said.

"Okay, I am going, I will be back later on this afternoon." He said, going over to his daughter. "Bye sweetheart, Daddy loves you. Be good for Abigail."

Arianna wriggled her fingers at Will, then turned back to her blocks.

"Good luck." Abigail said, as he walked out the door.

As he walked he thought about what he was about to do, one more time… he was 100% comfortable with it. He had made the right decision. He had even taken the two days to make sure he wasn't going to change his mind. Once he did this, there would be no going back….

Will knocked on the door, and waited for what seemed like forever before it was opened and Sonny stood there in front of him.

"Hey Sonny." Will said quietly

"Hey." Sonny whispered back.

"Can I come in?" Will asked.

"Sure." Sonny said, moving aside, letting Will in before he closed the door.

Will went over to the couch and sat down. He took a deep breath.

Sonny followed him over there and sat down beside him. He took it as a good sign when Will didn't move over or flinch away from him.

"Why do you love me?" Will asked suddenly, looking up at Sonny.

"What kind of question is that?" Sonny asked, shocked.

"I think it is a fair question." Will said.

"I love you for a lot of reasons." Sonny said.

"Name them." Will said stubbornly.

"I've always loved you Will, where is this coming from?" Sonny asked.

"Loving me because you have always loved me….. is not a reason, and it isn't good enough for me." Will said. "And me loving you because it is all I have ever known, shouldn't be enough for you."

"What are you saying?" Sonny asked.

"I'm saying that I love you Sonny, I have loved you since the first minute I met you, I think… and I love you right now, because you were the first person I ever truly loved and I don't know how to NOT love you. But I am not IN love with you anymore." Will said.

"Don't say that Will." Sonny said. "We can get it back, I know it."

"Sonny, you aren't in love with me either." Will said, reaching out taking his hand.

"Don't tell me how I feel." Sonny said jerking his hand away. "You have no idea how I feel."

"I know that if you love me…. If you really loved me all along then there would have been no possible way for you to let me suffer the way I did. I made no secret that I still loved you, and I know at first you were too mad and hurt to care, but we got by all that…. And there were a million and one times that you could have said something." Will pointed out.

"I wanted to… but I was trying to do right by Brian." Sonny said, "I told you that."

"And that's bullshit." Will said. "If you loved me as much as you claim that you did, nothing and no one could have gotten in the way of telling me that."

"This is all Paul's fault, Paul is putting all of this in your head." Sonny said, "I told you that he would do or say whatever is necessary to get his way."

Will shook his head, "This really has very little to do with Paul." He said, "And everything to do with you and me. Do you think for one minute that I would let him keep me from you, if I was still in love with you, like I was the day you walked out of my life?"

"Will…." Sonny said, his voice cracking, "I can't lose you, I don't think I could stand it."

"You aren't losing me Sonny, things will be the same between us as they have been for the last year and a half. Nothing is changing we are going to continue to be friends," Will said.

"I don't want to be friends." Sonny said. "I want you back."

"Sonny, just think about it. You don't want me." Will said. "If you did, we would have gotten back together a lot of months ago. You just don't want to see me with someone else, and that's a big difference. I know it hurts, I won't lie, it is going to get worse before it gets better, and I'm sorry that you are going to have to go through that. I went through the same thing, seeing you with Brian. Some days, I thought I would die…. But I didn't, and you won't either."

Sonny looked at Will, Tears flowing down his face. "I'm soo sorry Will, I ruined everything that we had by being so stubborn." He cried.

"Maybe this is how it was supposed to be from the beginning." Will said. "I don't know why things happen the way they do."

"Will please, don't do this… don't close the door on our love." Sonny pleaded.

"I'm not doing that, it's already been done." Will said. "Whether you realize it or not, you love Brian… otherwise you would have let him go, you wouldn't have been so concerned about his feelings." He continued. "This last 23 months have been, a series of tests and trials, and every single time there was a choice to be made. You chose Brian."

"I NEVER chose Brian over you." Sonny said.

"Did you know I still loved you at any time during the last two years?" Will asked.

"Well, yeah" Sonny said. "I always knew you loved me."

"Then every time that you knew that, and you stayed with Brian anyway…. That was a conscious choice on your part." Will said.

"I didn't mean it to be like that." Sonny said.

"I know, and it's okay, I don't hold it against you, I will always love you, Sonny, I'll give you and little time and then I will come by the coffee house in a couple weeks." Will said, standing up. "I'm sorry." He said when Sonny's eyes flooded with a fresh barrage of tears.

Will turned and walked out the door quickly. It hadn't been as hard as he thought it was going to be.

Sonny sat on the couch in shock, hot tears flowing freely, coursing down his face. He didn't know how he was going to go on without Will, he had just walked out of his life, like it was nothing. He hadn't even shed one tear…

He had blamed this on Paul, but really it was his own fault. He hadn't been strong enough to tell Brian that he was still in love with Will. If he could have done that, then he and Will could have been together this whole time. But somehow he had been hell bent on teaching Will a lesson, going as far as accepting Brian's proposal. Not that he didn't love Brian at all, because he did. Will was right about that at least. He had come to love Brian. It would just never come anywhere close to what he felt for Will, Not even if it lasted a million years. Then he had gotten desperate and practically prayed for someone to come along and sweep Will off of his feet. He thought that he would maybe daydream about Will a little less, if he could see Will happy in a relationship with someone.

That old saying "Be Careful what you wish for…." Was certainly true, and his wishes had come back to haunt him.

Maybe he should have made his pleas and prayers a little more detailed. He should have asked for someone for Will to spend time with, not fall in love with.

He thought carefully about what Will had said, he had apparently done what Sonny had asked and given it a lot of thought. He wondered if Will had felt betrayed by him every time they spent any amount of time together that didn't end in reconciliation. He hoped that wasn't the case.

Will saw it as him having made a conscious choice, choosing Brian over him time and time again so he didn't know how he couldn't feel at least some resentment. If Will felt even a fraction of what he was feeling right now, Sonny didn't know how Will could still love him, never-mind stand to look at him. Sonny felt like someone was taking an ice pick to his heart, trying to cut it out.

Will had lied to him, but he had never deserved what Sonny had put him through. Sonny was beginning to see that now.

And Brian had only loved him, and helped him through those dark days after he and Will had broken up. Will thought Brian had manipulated him…. But the truth was that Brian had told him that he needed to go back to Will in the beginning, but Sonny had been stubborn, like he always was. Sonny had promised him that he didn't want Will. He had insisted that he only wanted Brian, and after a couple of months Brian had finally given in to him.

That was a huge part of the reason that Sonny had never told Brian that he still wanted Will. Brian wasn't stupid, he was actually a pretty smart guy… he knew of course that Sonny still loved Will, still wanted him, that was why he was always so suspicious of the time that he spent with Will. It was time that Sonny had an honest conversation with Brian, and give him the chance that he deserved to figure out what he wanted…. And he had to do it before he changed his mind.

Sonny had made a complete mess out of his life…. And Brian's….. and he had been determined to do the same thing to Will. He had to make it right somehow. Sonny picked up the phone looked up a number, pressing the button to make the call…

"Delta Airlines." The representative said coming on the line.

"I need a ticket on the next available flight from Chicago to Baltimore, MD" Sonny said going into the bedroom. He pulled a backpack from the closet and started shoving clothes inside.

"I can get you on a flight a 7pm tonight, can you make that?" she asked.

"Yes of course I will be there." Sonny said pulling out his wallet and rattling off his credit card information to her.

Will dashed the tears from his eyes. It hadn't been as hard as he thought to let Sonny go. It had been the right thing to do. He had spent hours thinking about it, trying to figure out the right thing to do. He loved Sonny… but he hadn't said one word today that he didn't feel was completely honest. He really did feel all those things.

Loving Sonny was all that he had ever known until now. Paul was showing him a whole new world…. And he was excited to see what that world included…. He took his phone from his pocket, pulled up Paul's contact information. He pressed the send key and listened to the ringing one the other end until Paul answered.

"Will?" he said.

"Hi." Will said, "What are you doing right now?" he asked.

"Just hanging at the hotel." Paul answered.

"Good… stay there." Will said. "I'm on my way."

"Okay." Paul said. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah…." Will said. "I just made my decision and I wanted to talk to you in person, I think you deserve to hear what I have to say in person…. Don't you?" he asked.

"Okay, I will wait here." Paul said. "See you soon….."

 **Author's note: Okay so I know some people are happy, some are sad… and some are mad…. This story has taken me down many paths myself, and until I got here in front of the computer to write this… I was really still conflicted about how it was going to go. I love Wilson.. they will always hold a huge place in my heart. I also love Horita/Paulson…. I even love Pilson (The trifecta together) mostly because I LOVE These characters…. They are very special to me. SO I hope that you all stay with me to see where else this is going to go… there are still many things in my mind that will make their way into this story.**


	24. Chapter 24

Paul ended the call with Will and put the phone down on the table in front of the chair he was sitting in. His heart was racing, his pulse beating a fast rhythm in his veins. That brief call was the first time he had heard Will's voice in nearly three days, and he hadn't realized how much he had missed him. His voice sounded like heaven, just like he remembered it, except that it was more raspy sounding than usual. Was it just his imagination, or did he sound like Will had been crying? He got up and began to pace the floor, walking back and forth between the bed and the chair. Nervous butterflies swarmed in his stomach, fueling his jittery feelings. Will was probably on his way over to give him his decision, maybe even a little goodbye speech and he wasn't entirely sure that he was ready to hear it.

He had no idea what would he do if Will chose Sonny? One thing was for sure, if that happened he was going to have to leave Salem. He wanted Will to do whatever was necessary to make him happy, but he didn't think that he could stand to see Will and Sonny together every day. So if it came to it he would just pack up, give them his well wishes and finish his therapy someplace else.

Wanting someone else to be happy, over his own wants or needs was... well… Foreign to him…. And it may actually kill him, but he would do the right thing for Will, no matter what.

Paul had nearly worn a hole in the carpet in the last half hour since Will had called to say he was on his way. He had imagined ever scenario that could be possible. He needed to get himself under control before Will showed up and thought he had totally it.

Will walked into the lobby of the hotel and went directly toward the bank of elevators on the side. He pressed the call button for the elevator and waited, humming a little song, trying to keep his nerves at bay. When he doors opened he moved to step into the elevator car, and was surprised when his mother stepped off of the car into the lobby.

"Mom?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Will?" she echoed. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Yeah." He said. "Really, what are you doing here, are things not going good with EJ?" he asked, suddenly concerned.

"What?" she said, her head snapping up. "Don't be silly." She added. "I had to come here to have our newest model for the new cologne sign his contract."

"Oh God…." Will said, "Who's the model mom?" Will asked, praying to God it was anybody but Paul.

Sami looked at him like he had lost his mind. "What difference does it make who he is?" she asked suspiciously.

"Mom….. It's not Paul is it?" he asked warily.

"Of course not… " she said… "Why would you"…. She stopped and looked at Will… "Wait… is Paul staying here?" she asked.

"Yeah." Will answered.

"And you here to see him?" she asked.

"Yes….." Will answered her question… looking at her strangely. "Why do you ask?" he said.

"Well…" she said. "I'm just glad to know you are still seeing Paul, I like him."

"Ohhh… Since when?." Will asked.

"Since, I met him." Sami hedged.

"Good, I like him too." Will said. "He's been really good to me and Arianna."

"So you are guys are doing good?" she asked.

"Yeah… well, I mean I hope so." Will said, "I haven't seen or talked to him in a few days."

"Oh so you had a fight or something?" she asked evasively.

"No mom, we didn't have a fight.. I just, well something came up with Sonny, and I had to…." Will stopped talking and narrowed his eyes at her, "You already know don't you." He accused.

"Know what?" she asked as innocently as she could.

"You already know that Sonny asked me for another chance… God… I'm going to kill dad. He is worse than you are, can't he keeps anything to himself?" Will groaned.

"Hold ON…. You father knew about that?" she shrieked.

Will looked around the lobby , seeing it was deserted, he relaxed a bit, and turned back to her. "Well yeah, I assumed he was the one that told you." Will said.

"I am going to strangle him.. He never tells me the important stuff.." she fumed.

"Then how did you know?" Will asked, confused.

"Paul told me." She said distractedly, still puzzling over why Lucas hadn't told her. She had just assumed that he didn't know what was going on.

"What?" Will said. "He came to you? For what?" he asked, his voice rising a notch.

"Will, no he didn't come to me for anything, in fact he told me to leave you alone." She said.

"So he came to tell you to leave me alone?" Will asked getting even more confused.

"What are you talking about?" she asked , getting frustrated.

"You better just tell me the whole story." Will said, not sure how he felt about Paul talking to his mother about anything, let alone their relationship.

"I was going home from having dinner with your dad the other night, I ran into Paul in the park, he seemed sad, or upset or something, so I asked him if he was okay… and he told me that Sonny wanted you back… that's how I knew." She said.

"You left out the part where Paul told you to leave me alone." Will said.

"I was dead set on coming over to tell you that Sonny had alreaday had his chance and you should tell him to go to hell…, I didn't want you make some of the same mistakes I have made… but Paul made me promise to leave you alone and let you make your own choice. He didn't want anyone pressuring you." She said.

"Wow." Will said. "He really said that?"

Sami nodded, "Yeah he also said he loves you…and that he only wanted you to be happy."

"Anybody that would stand up to you.. " Will laughed, "has to be a keeper for sure." He teased.

"So you are staying with Paul?" she asked.

"I'm not answering that." Will said. "I want to tell both of them, before I tell anyone else."

"But I am your mother…." She whined.

"Yeah, my mother with an extraordinarily large mouth." Will giggled.

"William Robert Horton." She scolded. "That is not true."

Will looked at her skeptically, crossing his arms over his chest. "Really?" he asked. "Are you really trying to tell me that you don't have the biggest mouth in Salem?"

Sami narrowed her eyes at him, "Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's rude to point out peoples flaws." She said crossly.

Will snickered. "Yeah Yeah .." he said. "I'm going up to see Paul now, you have a good day mom."

"You're really not going to tell me?" she said shocked.

"Nope." Will said, as he turned and walked toward the elevators.

"Fine, I will just take that as a yes…. Since you are here and not with Sonny." She called after him.

Will kept walking, and waved over his shoulder.

Sami watched him get on the elevator before she turned and stomped out of the lobby. She was going to find Lucas and give him a piece of her mind.

Will was standing in front of the door to Paul's hotel , he wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. He had gotten distracted talking to his mom in the lobby and the nerves had all but disappeared. Now that he was alone and about to see Paul, they were back with a vengeance. Why was he so nervous? He should be fine, he was pretty sure that Paul hadn't changed his mind.

He finally summoned up the courage to knock softly. He could hear a little scrambling around in the room and then the door was pulled open. As soon as his eyes met Paul's the nervousness that had claimed him vanished, like it had never been there at all.

"Hey!" he said.

"Hey!" Paul parroted.

Will grinned. "Sooo…You gonna let me in or shall we talk in the hall?" he teased.

"Oh." Paul said. "Of Course come in." he moved , letting Will enter the room.

"Sorry, it took me so long." Will said.

"I was beginning to think you had changed your mind, and weren't going to show up." Paul said.

"Yeah… sorry about that. I ran into my mom… and she wouldn't shut up." Will said.

"Oh." Paul said. "It's no big deal, I'm just glad you are here now."

" Me too, it's been a rough few days for me." Will said sitting down on the couch. "I know I should have come over and talked to you after I went to see Sonny the other day, but there were a lot of things that were said, that I wasn't expecting and I had a lot of thinking to do."

"It's okay." Paul said, "I understood."

Will looked at him and raised his eyebrows. "You did?" he asked, skeptical.

"Yeah." Paul said, "You deserved the opportunity to make a choice."

Will looked at him wide eyed, "You already knew what Sonny was going to say when I went to see him didn't you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I had a pretty good idea." Paul said. "I've known Sonny for a long time, so it was easy for me to see that the idea of us together bothered him, and I was nearly one hundred percent sure that it wasn't because he wanted me." He rationalized.

"Then why would you encourage me to talk to him?" Will asked.

"Because I wasn't sure if you wanted to be with him or not…" Paul said.

"What if I do?" Will asked, needing to hear the answer.

Paul looked at him sadly. "I will wish you well, and be on my way." Paul said. "I want you to want to be with me… but above everything else, I just want you to be happy." He explained.

Will blinked away unexpected tears. "That's the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me." He said.

Paul looked at the tears that had formed in Will's eyes and he knew the end was coming…

"I wasn't always like this." Paul said, "I used to just worry about what I want and what makes ME happy. But you changed me, made me a better person…. But I do have to tell you that sometimes being the good guy really sucks ..." Paul said.

Will nodded, "Sometimes it ." he agreed.

"Please just tell me what you decided ." Paul said, "Don't drag it out, I don't think I could stand it."

Will looked at Paul, really looked at him, seeing for the first time what the last few days had cost him. Paul no longer had the air of confidence about him. He looked unsure and timid, and Will felt terrible for putting him through that, when all he had ever been to Will was kind and loving.

Will reached out and took Paul's hands into his own, enveloping them.

"How could I leave you now?" he asked. "You have given me nothing but acceptance and love. You have shown me what it is like to have someone love me completely and unconditionally for who I am. Never once did you try to change me. You are my choice… the only choice that makes any sense for me." He said gazing into Paul's eyes.

Paul's eyes filled with tears, tears that overflowed, dripping down his cheeks, dropping onto his shirt like raindrops in a spring shower. "I do love you Will." He said. Finally feeling like he was able to fully breathe… for the first time in three long days.

"I love you too." Will said. "And I'm incredibly sorry that I put you through this. I hope you can forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive." Paul said. "I know it was difficult for you to let Sonny go."

"No….",Will said. "It was hard to let go of the dream that one day Sonny and I would be together, but Sonny hasn't actually been mine to let go for a long time now."

"Have you already talked to Sonny?" Paul asked.

Will nodded, "Yeah, But I don't really want to talk about Sonny right now, if you don't mind... I think I just want to concentrate on us." He said.

"That sounds like a great idea." He said, moving closer to Will.

Will slid his hands into Paul's hair pulling him close, he closed the space between them, covering Paul's lips with his own…. He flicked his tongue over Paul's lips, parting them, sweeping inside, exploring the deep recesses of his mouth.

Paul's eyes fluttered closed, and he sighed into Will's kiss.

When Will came up for air, Paul leaned his forehead against Will's, breathing heavily.

One of Will's hands was twisted in Paul's Shirt, and the other one was creeping up his thigh.

"Who is with Ari?" Paul whispered.

"Abi." Will said, kissing his way down Paul's neck.

"How much time do we have?" Paul asked.

"As much as we need." Will answered, moving his hands to the buttons that held Paul's shirt together.

"God…. I was really hoping you would say that." Paul said, pulling Will over until he was sitting straddled over his lap….


	25. Chapter 25

Will's hands shook as he worked the buttons free one by one. When the last one has finally been freed from its closure, he reverently pushed aside the material exposing the broad expanse of Paul's chest. Will's stomach clenched and his whole body practically vibrated with pleasure just looking at the other man. His body was exceptionally beautiful.

Will reached out and tentatively and lightly ran his hand down the middle of his chest, teasing Paul with the barely there caress. Will's blood already hot as fire coursed quickly through his veins, seeming burning him from the inside out. His heart thundered loudly in his ears. He couldn't believe how turned on he was already.

Will allowed his eyes to slide closed, and counted slowly backwards from 20…. He had to get his raging hormones under control. He wanted this to last…. At least a little longer than two minutes.

Paul watched Will carefully. His fingers curled into fists against Will's thighs. He really longed to pick Will up and carry him over to the bed and rip the clothes from his body. But it was more important to let Will have total control, for the moment.

Will's eyes fluttered open after a minute or two. His gaze went to Paul's and he smiled at him shyly. Will smoothed his hands up over Paul's glorious pectoral muscles and urged the material from his shoulders. Will's tongue peaked out, moistening his lips nervously.

He leaned down and kissed the exposed skin of Paul's shoulder, trailing his lips over Paul's remarkably soft skin. He kept going until his nose brushed against the column of Paul's throat. Will buried his face in the crook of Paul's neck and inhaled slowly, pulling the spicy scent of the after shave he had used deep into his chest. His mouth was actually watering, just imagining the taste of his salty skin.

Will couldn't help himself, he raised his head a little and his tongue peaked out and flicked over the sensitive skin just below Paul's ear. Will whimpered as the taste burst on his tongue, and licked him again before attaching his lips to Paul's neck and suckling his skin. Paul shuddered under the attention, and groaned loudly.

Will raised up, separating their bodies. "Is that…." He started… "I mean was that okay?" he whispered bashfully. A feeling of inadequacy was welling up within him. He had only ever been with Sonny… and well Gabi, that one time…. But it had been a long time, and he was sure that Paul was much more experienced.

Paul gave Will a slow sexy grin. "That was waaay better than okay." He said. "Come here." He wrapped his fingers in the material of Will's shirt, using it to pull him forward. His free hand cupped the side of Will's face, his thumb caressed Will's lips, urging them apart. He slid his hand to the back of Will's head and pulled him close enough to connect their lips together.

Paul's tongue slipped into Will's mouth, gliding across his teeth, seeking and finding his tongue, tangling it together with his own. Will's hands had found purchase on Paul's shoulders and one of them crept into his hair, urging Paul closer. Will's mouth moved against his, the tempo growing more and more urgent, until finally Paul had to break away to breathe.

Will's forehead fell against Paul's shoulder, his breath coming out in short puffs. Paul could feel the heat radiating off of Will's body. His fingers that were wrapped in Wills shirt, had twisted the material so tightly that his fingers were tingling and uncomfortable and Paul imagined that Will must feel like he was wearing a shirt a few sizes too small, well at least if he has noticed.

Paul forced his fingers to release the shirt and then he reached for the hem. He tugged it until it was just underneath Will's arm pits. Will slowly rose up off of Paul's shoulder and lifted his arms so that he could remove the shirt. Once it was free of his arms, Paul tossed it aside onto the couch beside them.

He drank in the sight of Will's bare chest. He allowed his hands to explore the newly exposed skin. He traced the muscles of Will's shoulders, trailed his fingers down the center of his chest, deviating to first one side and then the other. He followed the circles around his nipples until will moaned aloud and then he finally gave in and grazed them with his thumbs. He saw the color deepen in Will's eyes, the more aroused he became. Paul continued further down, memorizing the defined muscles of Will's abdomen. He continued further, teasing around his navel, further still until he reached the button on Will's jeans.

Hearing Will's sharp intake of breath, his eyes flew to Will's, and he grinned at him. "What do you say, we move this to the bed?" he said.

Will nodded silently, and eased off of Paul's lap, standing up on rubbery legs.

Paul stood up too, shucking the shirt that still clung to his upper arms off. He tossed it onto the couch with Will's and pulled Will to him.

Will's arms went around Paul's neck and he connected their lips again, kissing Paul deeply. Paul's hands explored Will's upper body, even as he returned the kiss and urged Will backwards step by step until they were at the bedside.

He pulled out of the embrace, separating himself from Will. They stood beside the bed, gazing at one another… "Are you sure?" He asked one last time.

Will smiled, nodding… "I think we have waited long enough." He whispered. "Don't you?"

Paul's mouth went dry and he couldn't answer, so he stepped closer and popped the button loose on Will's jeans. He grasped the tab of the zipper and lowered it slowly. He pushed the material down, leaving the boxer briefs in place for the moment. Paul kneeled in front of him and tugged the jeans from his body. Lifting Will's feet one by one and pulling his shoes and socks off before pushing the denim out of his way.

He looked up at Will from his position on the floor. His chest was heaving and he could see how excited Will was, his underwear already sporting a large wet circle where he was leaking precum.

Will looked down at Paul the way he was looking up at him, the naked desire in his eyes, had the hunger to be touched clawing at Will's insides. The only drawback was that he was terrified that Paul was going to touch him and he was going to explode into a million pieces. How embarrassing that would be.

Paul wrapped his hand around Will's ankle, and trailed his fingers up and over Will's calf muscle. Will reached around blindly until his hand connected with the bed and he sat down, before he fell down.

Paul grinned at him, rising onto his knees, he continued his exploration of Will's legs. Following his hands with his mouth he kissed Will's knee and licked up his thigh until he encountered the hem of Will's boxers. Finally he cupped Will through his skivvies, massaging him gently. He looked up into Will's eyes, making sure that Will was okay with him doing what he had in mind next.

Will's eyes were practically wild with desire. His lip was trapped between his teeth, and it looked like it was in danger of being bitten completely in half… his fingers were twisted in the bedspread soo tightly that his knuckles were white.

With his free hand Paul reached up and freed his lip from its confines… "Relax." He smiled. "I promise not to bite.." he teased.

Will blushed. "It isn't that." He said.

"What is it?" he asked, stilling the hand still massaging Will's cock.

Will ducked his head, his cheeks flaming bright red. "Nevermind." He said.

"Will." Paul said, "Look at me." His voice brooked no argument.

Will raised his head and looked Paul in the eye. "What's wrong? … We don't have to do this." He said.

"I want to do this." Will said, meaning it… "It's just been a long time." He continued.

"Ohhhhh." Paul said finally understanding his reluctance. "Don't worry, it's been a long time for me too, and besides if it doesn't last more than a few minutes… that just means we get to do it again sooner… right?" he joked.

Will actually giggled. "Yeah, I guess so." He said.

"Good." Paul said, thankful to see Will relaxed again. "Now help me get these off." He said, tugging on the band of Will's underwear.

Will shifted his hips up off the bed… one at a time, so Paul could maneuver the underwear down, making short work of the last obstacle standing in his way.

Paul looked at Will in awe. If Will was a vision dressed…. He was pure heaven on earth in the buff. "Damn, you are the most beautiful sight I have ever seen." He whispered.

Will blushed again and opened his mouth to deny the compliment.

Paul's finger covered his lips… "I mean it Will… you are perfection." He said.

Paul looked at him, slowly taking in every inch of his body before he wrapped his hand around the base of Will's cock, stoking him from base to tip, once, twice, three times….He watched the creamy liquid leaking, dripping over and coating the outside of his hand.

Paul knew he had to taste him. He leaned down slowly, and his tongue snaked out, licking across the broad head gathering the juices on to his tongue. Will's hips bucked wildly and Paul moaned at the taste on Will's essence on his tongue. "God Will…." He whispered, before taking Will fully into his mouth, alternately sucking, and licking him from top to bottom. Paul concentrated on relaxing his throat and swallowing Will to the root.

Will's hips bucked of their own accord… his pulse racing, his stomach in knots…. He was sooo close.. and he didn't want to finish like this… they had barely gotten started. Hell Paul was still dressed from the waist down.

"Wait." He cried out, using his hands to push Paul's face out of his lap…

"What?" Paul said looking at Will surprised. His lips already red and swollen glistening with Will's pre cum."

"Sorry." Will said, "Not sure how much longer I was going to last with you doing that.. I didn't wanna …."

Paul put his hands on Will's knees and pushed himself off the floor. Standing at his full height, with Will still sitting on the bed he towered over him. "You could have, ya know. I wouldn't have minded." He murmured.  
"You still have your pants on." Will reminded him.

Paul gave him a cocky grin… "That doesn't matter…" he said, "I plan on knowing what being buried in that sweet ass of yours feels like before we leave this room."

"Oh." Will said… He licked his lips and reached for the button on Paul's pants… "Well let's get you naked then."

Paul linked his fingers together behind his head. "Be my guest." He said, letting Will work the button fly of his jeans open. Will shoved the pants down and Paul shimmied his hips to give him a little assistance.

When the pants pooled at his ankles, he stepped out of them and kicked them to the side. Then he hooked his fingers in his briefs and shoved them down. He was ready to be skin with skin with Will….

Paul crawled onto the bed tugging Will with him. Pulling him back to the center of the bed and straddling his thighs.

Will lay beneath him looking at him, Paul was gorgeous… all over… his package was no exception. He reached out tentatively and curled his fingers around Paul's cock, rubbing his thumb across the head. Feeling Paul twitch beneath his fingers, gave Will a feeling of power. He swiped his thumb across the crown another time or two before Paul seized his hand and pinned it to the bed above his head…

"Now that may cause me to lose it… which would hinder my plan a little bit." He teased. Paul leaned down and captured Will's lips, parting them, coaching Will's tongue to duel with his. Pulling it into his own mouth and sucking it greedily.

He stretched out over Will, kissing him thoroughly. Touching him where ever he could reach. He rubbed his foot up and down the length of Will's calves, until Will started moving. He wiggled his hands free and was touching Paul everywhere at once. His hands were on his back, skimming his sides, before the grabbed the globes of Paul's ass urging him to meet Will in the rhythm his hips were already setting. Their cocks both leaking and full were gliding together, creating a delicious friction.

Paul felt his control slipping… and that's when he knew he had made a mistake stretching out over Will like that… He gathered his willpower and moved off of him. He slid to his side, instead. Will whined and moved to follow him, rolling onto his side. Will reached for Paul, pouting when Paul moved further from his grasp.

Paul reached above them and grabbed a pillow from the head of the bed. He urged Will back onto his back and, pushed the pillow under Will's knees, and then touched Will's hip, indicating that he should raise up. When Will followed his unspoken instructions, he moved the pillow under his hips, tilting them up.

Will reached for Paul, pulling him down for a kiss…his hand caressing his chest and shoulder. Paul kissed him back and groped blindly toward the beside table. He knew there was a small bottle of lube there somewhere. Finally he found what he was looking for, clutching it in his hand he rolled closer to Will, opening it and drizzling the cold liquid over his fingers, kissing him all the while.

Will's leg wrapped around Paul's hip, his foot rubbing up and down the back of his thigh, both hands were in Paul's hair, threaded together, holding his head still while Will kissed him breathless. The things that Will's tongue was doing with his, the way he had somehow been maneuvered until he was nestled directly between Will's legs, made him crazy. Will's erection was burning into his skin. He was soo engrossed in all of that, he almost forgot to breathe.

Will was so concentrated on making sure that Paul was enjoying himself, that he was shocked when he felt Paul's fingers brush against his entrance. They were coated with a cool slick liquid, which Will had no idea where Paul had come up with.

He was so surprised that he broke the kiss and moaned aloud… crying out Paul's name.

"Shhhh" Paul soothed him. "I'm just getting you ready for me."

Will pulled his lip between his teeth and nodded. Paul's fingers circled his opening rhythmically, again and again, until finally Will was relaxed enough for him to slip one of his fingers inside. He wiggled inside of him, stretching him, pulling out and pushing in again slowly until Will was moving with him….

"More…" Will asked, his hands going to Paul's shoulders, gripping him tightly.

Paul grunted and added a second finger alongside the first, slowing his movements, giving Will time to adjust. He movedslowly and cautiously, until one of his fingers brushed against a sensitive spot deep inside of Will. "Yessss…." Will hissed, bucking against Paul's fingers.

"Paul…. Now…." He said urgently… "please now…"

"One more." Paul said, adding yet one more finger. He moved them, scissoring them open and closed. Preparing Will for his invasion.

Finally when Will was near sobbing…. Paul removed his fingers, dragging them down Will's thigh as he kneeled up between his legs, reaching across to the table one more time. He ripped the foil package with his teeth and rolled the latex down over his cock, hissing loudly. He was so far gone, he almost couldn't stand his own touch.

He took Will's legs and guided them to his shoulders. He looked at Will carefully. "You ready?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes…. Hurry." Will said.

Paul moved between his legs and positioned himself at Will's channel. He pushed inside slowly. Making sure to go slow enough that Will could adjust to him little by little. He kept going until he was buried to the hilt.

Sweat broke out on his brow, with the effort of holding still. He knew it had been a long time since Will had been with anyone, because he was tight, like really tight. He almost felt as if his dick were buried in a vise grip… soon enough Will began to move, he wiggled this way and that to start, before he wrapped both legs around Paul grinding against him, as if he couldn't get close enough…

"Please move." He finally cried. "please."

Paul did not need any more encouragement. He pulled back and slid inside again and again, groaning aloud as Will's muscles clutched at him.

He leaned over Will, supporting his own weight on his arms. His hips moving like a well oiled piston machine…. Pumping into Will repeatedly, as Will chanted his name over and over.

"Paul…." Will cried out, when his position shifted and Paul hit his prostate for the first time. He felt like fireworks burst in his head.

"Ummmm" Paul agreed, his jaw clenched with the effort of holding off his own orgasm, as he pushed Will higher and higher.

Paul was pushing him ever closer to the edge of oblivion. Will cried out, screaming, moaning… his head thrashing against the bed… his nails dug into the muscles of Paul's biceps. He pumped his hips up and down meeting Paul thrust for thrust….

"FFFFFFUUUUUCCCCKKKKKK" Will screamed out as he fell over the cliff, his seed shooting out of his cock, coating Paul's chest and shoulders, making both of their skin, glisten and shine as they moved together. His muscles clenched down on the hard member buried deep within him, milking him, virtually ripping Paul's climax from him.

Paul threw his head back, shouting out his release, as spurt after spurt of his hot seed filled the condom. He collapsed over Will, breathing heavily.

He rolled over, taking Will with him, withdrawing gently, so he wouldn't hurt him…. "I love you Will." He said, cuddling Will to his chest.

"Mmmmmm love you." Will groaned back.

Paul chuckled. "You okay?" he asked.

"MMMMMhmmmm" Will sighed agreeably.

Paul held him close for a few minutes before he shifted him off to the side and got up. First he took care of the condom and then he went into the bathroom and bathed his chest off with a warm rag before grabbing another and wetting under the water.

He went back out into the bedroom to offer it to Will, but he was fast asleep already. Paul laughed and wiped Will off as best as he could. Once he was satisfied that he had cleaned Will sufficiently he grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and crawled back into the bed, pulling Will close and covering them both. He lay there thinking how lucky he was, thanking God that Will had chosen him, and with that thought it wasn't long before he was asleep as well.


	26. Chapter 26

Will roused from his impromptu nap a couple of hours later and stretched languidly, feeling the delicious ache that filled his ass. He desperately needed to relieve his bladder but Paul's arm was draped across his waist and he hated to wake him.

He lay there for a few minutes just enjoying the feel of Paul wrapped around him warmly. He thought one more time about his decision, even more convinced that he had made the right choice. Sonny was his past and Paul was his future. He knew that with certainty now. Everything that he had said to Sonny was true, it had hurt him to open himself up to feel all of those things again, but it was worth it.

Finally when he was about to burst and could not stand it anymore he eased away from Paul toward the edge of the bed… but Paul's thick arm tightened around him, pulling his body flush against him again. He pressed his growing erection against Will's backside.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked sleepily.

Will started to settle back down, but his bladder was pretty insistent that he move. "Just to the bathroom, I'll be right back." He said, scooting off of the bed.

"Come back….." Paul protested loudly, as he cracked his eyes open and watched Will walk toward the bathroom naked.

"In a minute." Will said, going into the bathroom and closing the door. He used the toilet and then examined himself in the mirror as he washed his hands. He had a couple of faint red circles on his neck and throat, his lips were cherry colored and his eyes were sparkling bright. Abigail would take one look at him and know how he had spent his morning. He groaned inwardly… he was not ready to face the world but he did need to go and get his baby girl….. maybe after one more round with Paul, he thought wickedly. It had been a long time since he had been with anyone... and that one time with Paul had awakened all of his desires.

He walked back out of the bathroom to see Paul out of bed, he had his jeans on, but not fastened, and he was folding the blanket that had covered them.

"What are you doing?" He asked, sauntering over to Paul.

Paul laid the blanket on the bed and pulled Will against him, kissing him softly on the lips. "We should go get Arianna and go celebrate!" he said.

Will's heart melted when he realized that Paul wanted to include Arianna. He grinned and put his fingers in the belt loops of Paul's jeans jerking the man closer. "I love you." He said, his voice was thick with emotion. He was actually fighting back tears… How had he ever gotten this lucky? He connected their lips together and kissed Paul deeply.

Paul's hands went to Will's hips and slid down over the globes of his ass only to be reminded that he was still naked. With great discipline he moved his hands back to the small of his back and held him close.

When they broke for air, Paul set Will away from him purposefully and put a hand on the end of the bed… "You need to get dressed fast." Paul said. "Or we are going to be spending the rest of the day rolling around in the bed."

"Hmmmm." Will said smiling, advancing on him. "That doesn't sound so bad to me."

"Me either….but I want to see Arianna." Paul said.

"Fine." Will said, pretending to pout. "But bring some clothes, I want you to stay with me tonight."

"Deal." Paul said, pulling his tee over his head and fastening his pants.

Will turned and gathered his clothes, slipping them on one article at a time. Once he was dressed he sat down on the couch to pull on his shoes. "Where should we go to celebrate?" Will asked.

"Wherever you want…. Out to eat….Ice cream…. The zoo…. Anything that sounds good." Paul said, not really caring where they went as long as they were together.

"Maybe we can grab some food and take her on a picnic… then to the park, I think she would like that, and it isn't freezing out there today." Will said.

"Sounds like a plan." Paul said, tugging on his sweatshirt. Once he was done he grabbed his duffel bag and pulled a couple pairs of jeans and underwear from the chest and then grabbed a couple of polo's from the closet. Then he shoved them in, zipped it quickly before opening the door.

"You ready?" he asked, turning to look at Will.

Will was still sitting down on the couch frowning at his phone.

"What's wrong?" he asked, immediately closing the door and going over to sit beside him on the couch.

Will looked at him, and smiled. "Nothing." He said, "Dad texted and said mom was planning a party for tonight and insisted that I come and bring you with me."

"Great!" Paul said, "sounds like fun."

"You don't know my mom…. Half the town will be there." Will said, "I don't want to deal with them tonight…. I want to have a quiet night with you and Ari…"

"Then we will politely decline the invitation." Paul said, "Whatever you want, is what we will do."

"We will have to go… Mom is not going to let this go." Will whined resigning himself to go and get it over with.

"She will listen to me…" Paul said. "Leave everything to me."

Will shrugged and got up to follow Will out of the door.

Paul pulled out his phone and handed it to Will. "Can you put her number in so I can call her?" he asked.

Will did as he was asked and handed the phone back to Paul. They walked out of the hotel hand in hand. Once they were outside on the side walk… Paul stopped… and dialed the number Will had entered into is phone.

Instead of raising the phone to his ear as Will expected him to do he hit the speaker button. His mother answered on the second ring.

"Hello." She said, "Who is this?"

Will snickered… Sami Brady… well Sami Dimera had never been known for her subtlety.

"Hi Mrs. Dimera this is Paul Narita." He said.

"Paul… Hi!" She said excitedly. "It's Sami please, what can I do for you?"

"Well Will just talked to his father, and he is under the impression that you are throwing a party tonight and expecting that we will be there." Paul said. "I was just calling to make sure you had enough notice that we will not be able to make it tonight."

"I'm going to kill Lucas for spoiling the surprise, I was going to…. Wait what did you just say?" she asked switching gears quickly.

"I'm sorry Mrs… excuse me Sami… but we will be spending our first night as a couple, having a quiet night with Arianna. We won't be able to come to a party tonight…" he said patiently.

"But you have to come. I want to introduce you to the whole family and tell everyone that you are together… and " Sami wailed… sounding close to tears. "I have planned everything and invited everyone already and the cook is already working on the food… and…."

"Mom it's okay we will…" Will started, stepping closer to the phone.

Paul hit the mute button on the phone and turned to Will…. Looking to see if he had changed his mind… Will still looked sad but he shrugged "I feel bad." He whispered.

Sami continued rambling on and on…. She hadn't even taken a breath.

"Sami." Paul said, turning off the mute. When she didn't acknowledge that he had spoken… he raised his voice a bit… "SAMI." He said again.

"What?" she asked, cutting off her tirade mid sentence, clearly aggravated.

"I am sorry. We really appreciate all that and of course I want to meet the whole family but we can't make it tonight… now if you want to have the party next weekend Will and I would be glad to come." Paul said, his tone of voice indicating that he was not going to waiver.

Sami got quiet, then sighed. "Fine." She said, "Saturday night you both need to be at the mansion at 7pm."

"We will see you then." Paul said, then he clicked off the phone and dropped it into his pocket. Then he turned to Will, "Ready to go babe?" He asked.

"How did you do that?" Will asked, dazed.

Paul took his hand and pulled him into step beside him as he led him to the car. "I think she likes me." He said shrugging.

"That's an understatement." Will said. "She must really like you, to let you get away with that!"

"Get away with what?" Paul asked. "I only told her we were not coming to the party."

"Yeah… I know." Will said, "Nobody says no to Sami Brady without paying the price."

Paul chuckled… "Whatever it is… it will be worth it to spend the night alone with just you and Arianna."

Will blushed and got into the car, realizing that they were there and Paul had already opened the door.

They drove over to the apartment in companionable silence. But when they pulled into a parking spot, Will remembered that Abigail knew that he had made his decision, and though he wasn't sure how she would feel about it, she was bound to pry for a few details before being on her way.

"Paul…" he said, turning in the seat. "Abigail is with Arianna and she knew that I was talking to you and Sonny both today… so since I am bringing you home with me, I won't be hard for her to figure out that I chose you… I hope you don't mind."

"Mind?" Paul asked… confused… "Of course I don't mind, I want everyone to know that I am the luckiest man on the planet."

"Stop…" Will said, ducking his head and pushing at his arm… "Come on I am ready to go see my baby girl."

Paul grinned and got out. He went around and opened Will's door for him.

Will could open his own car door of course but he had to admit it was nice that Paul did it for him. No one else had ever taken the time or the initiative to do that for him.

When they got to the door to the apartment, Will took out his keys and opened the door, just in time to see Chad hold Arianna above his head and swing her wound like an airplane…. He dropped her onto the couch for a crash landing and she giggled like crazy. "Gin… gin…." She pleaded.

Abigail looked up as the door opened, she took in the sight of Will standing there with Paul standing behind him. Will looked genuinely happy, and she was really relieved since Sonny was already on his way to prove to Brian that they could make it.

"Will." Chad said, "Give me just a minute sweetheart and we will do it again." Chad promised. He carefully extracted himself from the tangle of Arianna's arms and legs. He came over and held out his hand to Will. "Good to see you, what's new?"

Will took the proffered hand. "Hey Chad, long time no talk… this is Paul." He said moving into the living room so Paul could follow him and close the door.

"Paul Narita…. Right?" Chad asked shaking his hand as well.

"Yeah man, have we met?" Paul asked.

"No…. but I have heard a lot about you from Abigail here" he said inclining his head in her direction… "and for the record let me tell you, I am damned glad that you aren't straight…" he said.

Paul laughed and Abigail blushed a deep crimson. "Shut up CHAD." She said indignantly.

"What?" Chad asked, trying to look all innocent. "I don't need any more competition… and she hasn't shut up about you since you walked her to her door a couple weeks back."

It was Paul's turn to be embarrassed, "It was no problem, I just wanted to make sure she was safe."

"Well, I appreciate it man, thanks for looking after my girl." Chad said.

"HA!" Abigail cackled… "You had a conniption fit when I told you a very handsome man walked me to my door." She teased….

"Well yeah….. " Chad said. "The way you sang his praises… I thought I was going to have to hire a hitman."

"WOW." Will said laughing heartily as the color drained from Paul's face.

Chad looked at him with a cocky grin. "Don't worry she finally told me a couple of hours later that you were after my man Will here" Chad said slapping Will on the shoulder, "You are completely safe with me…. Well…. Unless you hurt Will, then I may have to give Sami the number to the hitman."

Will looked over at Paul, who was smiling through the teasing but he also looked relatively pale. "Okay Okay… Chad that's enough." He said.

Abigail looked at Paul. "Don't mind Chad, he is totally kidding." She said.

"She's right, I am teasing." Chad said pulling Abigail under his arm. "Mostly."

"Stop it Chad." Abigail said laughing. "Soo Will, you look happy." She said.

"I am." Will said. "I am really happy."

"I'm glad." she said. "You deserve it."

"Thanks." Will said, picking Arianna up. Apparently she had gotten tired of waiting for Chad to return to their game, and was pulling at his Pants leg.

"Hi Pumpkin." He said, kissing the tip end of her nose. "Did you have a good morning with Aunt Abigail?" he asked.

The little girl nodded enthusiastically. "Airpane." She said grinning.

"Yes I saw you being an airplane." He said. "What do you say we go see great grandma, get some food and go on a picnic with Paul?"

" Pway….pway " She said struggling to get down… will set her on the ground and she raced out of the room.

"Sounds like a fun afternoon." Chad said. "I had better be going, I have a meeting in a little while over at the hospital. Want me to drive you home?" he asked looking at Abigail.

"Please." She said. "Let me just go and kiss Ari goodbye."

She disappeared into the nursery where Arianna was jumping trying to get some clothes out of her closet. Abigail giggled at her antics and held her up to pick out the outfit she wanted.

Abigail knelt down and changed her clothes for her, then brushed her hair putting into two small pig tails. Once Arianna had picked out her boots and Abigail had helped her get them on they walked out into the living room to find the three men sitting around talking about sports.

"We are all ready." Abigail announced. "Ari here is ready for her picnic and I guess I am ready to go run my errands." She said sighing.

She went over and kissed Will's cheek, "I mean it you know you deserve to be happy."

"Thanks." Will said, hugging her. "For everything."

Will watched them go, closing the door behind them. Then he turned to Arianna. "Ready for our picnic princess?" he asked.

"Paul tum wif us?" she asked, looking at Paul earnestly.

"Of course I am coming… You're my main girl, remember?" Paul said hoisting her up in his arms.

"Wuv you." She said, laying her head on his shoulder.

Paul's eyes filled with moisture… "And I love you." He said, his eyes connected with Will's over her shoulder. "Both of you."


	27. Chapter 27

Soooo... as you may have noticed, I have been MIA for quite a long while. I could not Watch the show after the death of Will... Never watched another scene. And though these stories have lived on in my mind, I had a really hard time getting them down on paper. Now that Will is returning, I finally found the inspiration to write again, So If you are still following along. Thank you, and please forgive my absence!

Sonny stepped out of the sliding doors of the airport into the hustle and bustle of people frantically moving to and fro… All of them trying to get from point A to point B in a hurry. Sonny was no different, now that he was here he wanted to get to Brian as soon as he could. He had already let too much time go by. Brian probably thought that he didn't care about their he really couldn't blame him if he did. It wasn't like he had given him a whole lot of reasons to have confidence. He had a splitting headache and wondered if he should have called first, if he was making yet another mistake by showing up here out of the blue.

He stopped right where he was and gave himself a mental shake. He had already been over and over that on his plane ride. He had made so many mistakes lately, He should have never let Will go to begin with. If it hadn't been for his stupid pride he probably wouldn't have…. But what was done, was done right? Long ago, when he had found out about the baby... either intentionally, or just out of plain stubbornness …he had chosen a different path for his life. He had put Will firmly behind him and the past was just that. The Past... and he had to leave it there. He was determined to show Brian that they could have a future together, and that a future with him is exactly what he wants. Hopefully Brian would still want that too.

Having settled that in his brain, he turned and whistled for a cab. When one pulled up to the curb he opened the door and climbed inside. That was when he realized that he had no idea where he was going. He hadn't exactly been communicating much with Brian, so he had no idea which hotel he was even staying at. He sighed to himself and asked the driver to take him to John Hopkins Hospital. At least he would be able to find him, or someone that knew how to reach him there.

The driver looked over his shoulder. "You okay man?" he asked concerned.

Sonny nodded. "Yes, or at least I will be." he said, "As soon as I see my boyfriend."

"Is he sick?" The cabbie said, attempting to make conversation.

"No." Sonny said absently. "He's a doctor there." He fell silent, not offering any further information.

Sensing Sonny wasn't in the mood to talk the cabbie let the subject drop. He didn't say anything else until he pulled up in front of the entrance. "Here we are."

Sonny looked up from his musings. "Thanks" he said, passing a bill over the seat.

"Good Luck to you." The cabbie said, taking the money, "Enjoy your visit with your boyfriend."

Sonny nodded as he got out and closed the door behind him. Now that he was here he had a feeling of dread deep in his stomach, he really had no idea if Brian would want to see him, he didn't have a clue about what he wanted to say.

He took a fortifying breath, squared his shoulders and walked in as the doors slid open. The smell that seemed to permeate all hospitals enveloped him as the doors slid closed behind him. He stopped and looked around the prestigious hospital, it looked much like any other hospital that he had ever been in before. He walked up to the desk and asked if they could page Brian to come to the lobby.

The elderly lady behind the desk nodded her assent and pressed a couple buttons on her phone. He heard the page go out over the overhead PA system, and butterflies took flight in his stomach. He almost felt as if he was going to be sick.

With nothing else to do but wait he walked over to the set of chairs situated in the corner and sat down. He thought about what the best thing to say would be as he waited. He wasn't sure if Brian would appreciate that he was here now that Will had turned him down. Maybe he should leave that part out of his story? That seemed to be a reasonable idea, but the idea of starting over again based on a lie was enough to make vomit rise in the back of his throat.

He dropped his head back on the chair. How in the hell had his life gotten so far out of control? One minute he and Brian were happy and headed toward the altar and then Paul stepped back into his life and suddenly it was as if he no longer knew what he wanted. Admittedly it was a strange situation. Paul coming back for him, and ending up with Will was a twist of fate that no one could have seen coming. What were the odds that something like this could ever happen. So my wasn't sure but they seemed very low.

Sonny lay there, eyes closed, head resting on the back of the chair for what seemed like a very long while before someone touched his shoulder startling him out of his thoughts.

"Sonny… What are you doing here?" Brian asked, eyeing the suitcase sitting at Sonny's feet. Other than shaking his shoulder Brian made no move to touch him.

Sonny blinked up at him a couple of times before sitting up straight. "I came for you.", Sonny said quietly, pushing himself off of the couch. "Is it okay if we… I mean can we go to the hotel and talk?"

Brian studied him for a few minutes before he replied. "I can't right now." He said as he looked at his watch, "My shift ends in a couple of hours, and went can talk then." He said finally.

"Okay, I'll wait then." Sonny said, sitting back down on the couch. "I will be right here when you are ready."

"No." Brian said. "There is no need for that, you shouldn't have to wait here." He pulled out his wallet and extracted a key card, handing it to Sonny. "The hotel is just a couple blocks down past the hospital. Go there and wait for me, room 349 and I will be there as soon as I can.".

Sonny took the card he offered and nodded. "Okay." he said. "I am really glad to see you."

Brian nodded, turned and hurried away without another word.

Sonny watched as he walked off. His mind spinning in a hundred different directions. Brian hadn't seemed overjoyed to see him. But the guessed that he should have been expecting that. "At least get hadn't refused to see him, or turned him away."

Sonny pulled the suitcase along behind him as he exited the hotel and walked down the sidewalk. He thought about what he wanted to say as he walked. Discarding ideas as he went.

Sonny opened the door and looked around the room. It was as neat as he had expected it to be, given Brian's OCD and truthfully he probably didn't spend much time here. He had come here to work and learn and If Sonny knew anything Brian it was that he had a tendency to throw himself into his work, often forgetting that life was meant to be lived. He had seen that first hand as Brian worked his way through college. He had barely surfaced for days at a time back then.

He sat down on the bed and then got up again. He was restless and his nerves were getting the best of him. He paced the room and then stepped out onto the small balcony…he looked around for a minute or two and then went inside again. He had never felt so uncomfortable before. His nerves were strung so tightly they may as well be a tight rope at the circus. Finally, he decided a hot shower may help him relax, or at least help him get a handle on his runaway imagination.

Sonny opened his suitcase and pulled some clothes from the haphazard piles he had tossed in before his hasty trip to the airport. He went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him, then turned the water on to as hot as he could stand it. The tiny bathroom quickly filled with steam as he stripped out of his clothes.

When he stepped under the hot spray he felt some of the tension leave his body. He stood there for several minutes letting the water hit the back of his neck. Then he turned and let it wash over his chest until the water started cooling. He grabbed the bottle of soap Brian had sitting on the shelf and quickly bathed off, before shutting the water off and stepping out of the shower.

He rubbed himself dry feeling calmer and more quickly dressed and threw the towels into the pile in the corner. He thought about what he wanted to say, all the points that he wanted to make, trying his best to organize what he wanted to say in his head, but there was really nothing that he could say, no one excuse that sounded any less lame than the one before it. So in the end he decided to just speak from the heart, and hope that underneath all the pain and resentment, somehow Brian still loved him.

Sonny lost track of time as he thought over the events of the last few weeks. Sitting there dwelling on the past he was lost once again in the feeling of Will walking out on him. Well, that wasn't accurate… to be truthful he had walked out on Will… way back when, so he had to take the blame there. He thought about Will and how confident he had been when he had come to say he had chose Paul…. Will had been confident about his choice and the reasons that he had given made a lot of sense. He loved Will, and probably always would, some things never change. But Will had been right loving someone and being in love with them is two totally different things. And the thought of Paul… or anyone taking Will away from him, had scared the hell out of him. Because Will had been part of his life in some fashion for a long time. Was it possible that he was clinging to Will so hard because he was scared of losing the friendship that he had come to depend on? Will was right, he did love Brian. He stayed with him because Brian had gotten into his heart. He had put him back together when it had been shattered into a million pieces. Brian had given him a reason to wake up every morning. How had he made such a huge mess out of his life. Brian may never trust him again and It was a wonder that Will and Paul didn't hate him for what he put them through.

He was reclining against the pillows on the bed when he finally heard the door opening a couple of hours later. He was surprised to see that darkness had overtaken the day while he had been busy preparing his speech to Brian. The room was shrouded in shadows. It had taken most of the day but he had gotten things into perspective and had an idea of what he wanted to say to Brian. Making empty promises wasn't going to hold any weight with him, but hopefully he would come around. Sonny stood and went to greet him.

Sonny walked straight up to him and wrapped his arms around him in a warm hug, but Brian remained stiff and unresponsive.

"What are you doing here Sonny?" he asked again, when Sonny released him and stepped back.

"I came here for you." Sonny repeated his answer from earlier. "I've missed you."

"Oh." Brian said, his voice coming out tense and cold. "I see… and how about Will? Have you gotten him out of your system?" he asked pointedly. "It only took a few weeks, so I guess I should be grateful."

"Brian," Sonny said, "I don't want, I mean I haven't….." He stopped, and went back to perch on the edge of the bed, sighing heavily…. "I don't even know what to say. I am so very sorry for what I've put you through." he whispered. "I don't know what came over me. The thought of Will with Paul… it seemed to me that I was going to lose his friendship and it scared the hell out of me."

"His friendship?" Brian asked disbelieving… "That's what you are afraid of losing?"

"Yes." Sonny said. "Maybe I didn't know that's what I was afraid of, maybe I was confused about it. Confused between love and friendship…" He looked down at his hands, "I didn't know what him being with Paul was going to mean for me, but I know now that it means that nothing really changes. He is still my best friend… Just my best friend who has a life of his own…."

"And how did you come to this realization?" Brian asked. He was still standing just inside the door, ready to bolt if this became too much for him. "Did you sleep with him to figure out that he is just your friend? Those old feelings not as strong as you thought they were or…. Maybe he turned you down…. Which is it Sonny?"

"Of course I didn't sleep with him….." Sonny said. "Will and I talked, we had a heart to heart talk, a very open conversation about the past... that's it."

"Let me see if I understand correctly… You two talked and you figured out that you are not in love with him anymore. You just freaked out and started acting like a crazy person because you just can't lose his friendship… Is that about right?" Brian asked.

"More or less." Sonny hedged. He didn't want to lie and he had promised himself that he would give Brian the whole story, and he would, but with the way Brian was acting, He wasn't sure disclosing the full truth just now would be advantageous to his situation.

"More or Less?" Brian asked. "Let me guess, I am pretty sure I know exactly what went down... you told Will you still love him, you probably begged him to take you back, and he turned you down…. It seems the tables have turned on you Sonny." He sneered. "All those months Will came around hanging on to your friendship like a love sick puppy dog, refusing to give up on his dream of being with you, even though we were together and her knew we were supposed to be getting married….and then one day Paul came into the picture and swept him off of his feet. And now it is your turn to cling on him, to be the love sick puppy, taking whatever scraps of time he has for you."

"It isn't like that." Sonny said sadly. "You're making this into something that it's not."

"It didn't happen like that?" Brian asked, his eyes practically glowing with anger, daring Sonny to deny it. "Tell me I am wrong Sonny."

"Well, no… not exactly like that." Sonny said.

"Okay, let me make this simple for you…. Did you ask Will to come back to you?" Brian asked.

"Yes." Sonny whispered… getting up and walking toward Brian.

Brian shook his head no and side stepped Sony's touch. "I cant…" He pulled his Wallet out of his pocket and pulled out another key card, thisb one in an envelope. He held it out toward Sonny. "Here, take it, I got you your own room." he said.

"Why?" Sonny asked, his voice cracking.

"Because I told you back in Salem that I am not okay with being your second choice." Brian said. "I mean it then, and I mean it now. I won't be your consolation prize Sonny. I deserve better than that."

"You aren't a consolation prize." Sonny said shoving his hand through his hair. This wasn't going the way he planned it. "Didn't you hear what I said, I love you."

"So far all I have heard is that you asked him to come back and he turned you down." Brian said. "And that makes me your second choice."

"You aren't my second choice, I love you." Sonny said reaching out to touch Brian. Brian shook his head again, and shoved the card into his outstretched hand.

"I don't want this." Sonny said, " I want to stay with you."

"Well, until we resolve our issues, I don't think that is a good idea." Brian said. "And right now I can't even stand to look at you. You can say I love you all day long…. But they are just empty words, words that have no meaning without actions to back them up."

"Look…" Sonny said, "I know how this looks to you, this looks like Will turned me down and I came running back to you because I don't have anywhere else to go, but that isn't what this is. Will did turn me down but he pointed out some things to me that I had not realized before. If I had been actually in love with Will I would have went back to him, regardless of who it hurt, and I didn't do that because I didn't want to hurt you."

"Oh so since you stayed with me so I wouldn't be hurt, and you didn't go running back to Will regardless of my feelings then that must prove that you love me huh…" Brian said, becoming indignant.

"Yes….. I mean no." Sonny said. "I am making a mess out of this." he whined. "I had it all planned out. Exactly what I wanted to say, but It isn't quite coming out the way I hoped."

"You should go." Brian said, "It's been a long day and I have to be back at work early tomorrow. I need to get some rest."

"Brian, I…" Sonny began, but closed his mouth when Brian opened the door and stood beside it, waiting for Sonny to leave.

Sonny grabbed his bag from the corner and walked out the door, looking at Brian sadly.

"We can talk more tomorrow Sonny. I have to have time, time to think about this… about what I want and what I can live with." Brian said. "Your room is on the 5th floor, room 544. Good night Sonny." he whispered and then closed the door.


	28. Chapter 28

Sonny walked away from the window, for the one hundredth time since midnight. He had tried to sleep, but sleep was elusive. He guessed he had too much on his mind. Brian hadn't been overjoyed to see him, and honestly why would he be.

Sonny knew he had a lot of making up to do where Brian was concerned, but He couldn't do it if Brian wouldn't give him the chance. Brian had been more than patient with him when they had first gotten together. That was one of the reasons that he had fallen for him in the first place. Brian had understood that coming out of the break up with Will, Sonny had been wrecked, was not sure he would ever be able to feel anything for anyone again. Brian had offered him friendship, and laughter, drawing him back into the world of the living… and later he had shown him how to love again.

He sat down on the chair beside the bed, the morning sun was just starting to peek through the curtains he had haphazardly closed, when he leaned his head back against the cushion and, closed his eyes. He let his memories of the past roll through his mind. Thinking back to when Brian had first said that he loved him, how happy he had been. He wanted to get those feelings back.

" _You look great!" Brian said when Sonny opened the door…. He handed him a single rose. (Yeah, it was corny but it was their first official date)_

 _Sonny blushed. "Thank you." He said. "You uh want to come in?"_

" _No, we have reservations in an hour." Brian said, "You ready?"_

 _Sonny nodded, "Let me just put this in water." He said. He walked to the kitchen and dropped it into a small vase with water. He grabbed his Wallet and keys and then walked out into the hall with Brian, closing the door behind him._

" _So where are we going?" he asked._

" _We have dinner reservations and then we are going to a play."_

" _Oh." Sonny whispered. He was impressed, no one had ever taken him to see a play before. He liked stuff like that, even though it was not really a well known fact._

Sonny opened his eyes…. How Brian had known that about him was still a mystery. They had such a good time that night. the food had been amazing and 'Cat on a hot tin roof' had been something that Sonny had been wanting to see but had never taken the time to go, so it had been a nice treat.

After the show they had took a nice long walk…

" _Thank you!" That was amazing. Sonny said. "I haven't enjoyed anything that much in a long time."_

 _Brian reached over and tangled their fingers together. "I'm glad you liked it." He said smiling over at Sonny. "I love things like that."_

" _Me too." Sonny agreed. "I used to go all the time, but it's been a very long time, I forgot how much I love it."_

" _That's a shame." Brian said, we will have to make sure that doesn't happen again."_

" _I would like that." Sonny said shivering._

" _You cold?" Brian asked. "You can have my coat, or we can head back if you are ready."_

" _No, I'm fine." Sonny said, "Just got a chill is all, let's walk a little longer."_

 _Brian smiled and they walked on, until the got to the edge of the lake. He stopped and wrapped his arm around Sonny's shoulder pulling him close._

" _Sonny allowed himself to be pulled into the embrace. "For the first time since Will, he was enjoying the feeling of closeness with someone else. They stood there in companionable silence until Brian turned face him and pulled him around._

" _Sonny, I have to tell you something." He said "I know that you have been through alot and that you are still going through a lot but… "I love you… And I think you need to know that."_

 _Sonny stared blankly at him for a full minute before opening his mouth. "Brian that's such a sweet thing but I'm not ready for that, no where near ready for that." he said honestly._

" _And that's okay." Brian said, "I'm not going anywhere. You take your time, but I felt like I needed to say something." he pulled Sonny close hugging him tight. "I know that you are still getting over Will and that it will be a while before you are ready to trust anyone with your heart again, but I want to be the one you turn to when you are ready." he continued. "Is that okay?"_

 _Sonny's chocolate brown eyes swam in a sea of tears as hell nodded his accent._

 _Brian pulled him close and covered his lips with his own, kissing him briefly._

 _Sonny liked the fact that Brian didn't push him for more than he was ready to give._

 _Brian backed away and linked their fingers together again, then led him back toward the car…._

That had been the first night that Sonny had thought he could go on.. . that he could put the past behind him and concentrate on the future. That night he had finally let himself feel something for someone else.

They had spent many great nights between that night and the night that Brian had proposed…

" _What are you doing?" Sonny asked giggling as Brian covered his eyes with his hands and urged him up the stairs that lead to the roof access of his apartment building._

" _You''ll see, now be careful, come on three more steps… we are almost there." Brian said._

" _What are you covering my eyes? I have seen the view from up here a million times." Sonny groused playfully. On the inside he was giddy, like a small child he loved surprises._

" _Well maybe you haven't seen this exact view" Brian countered._

 _Finally they made it to the top step, Sonny could already feel the cool night air hitting his face. Brian must have already had the door propped open for them._

 _Sonny heard the commotion of Brian, moving the large rock out of the way, he could hear it scraping along the ground as Brian shoved it with his foot. Then the door swung shut behind them._

 _For the first time Sonny heard the soft music playing in the background._

" _Ready?" Brian asked._

" _Uh Huh" Sonny said, nodding yes._

 _Brian removed his hands from Sony's eyes. Sonny blinked a few times. Taking in the scene before him. There was a small table with a burgundy cloth. The table was covered with White rose petals. White candles stood in the middle of the table, even though it was much to breezy for them to remain lit. There were also two covered plates._

" _What's this?" Sonny Asked, "We have already had dinner."_

 _Brian shrugged.. " Dessert."_

 _Sonny walked over to the table and skimmed his hand over the cloth. "You did all this for me?" he said in awe._

" _Of course… I love you." Brian answered honestly._

 _Sonny grinned, " I love you too!" he whispered. His heart felt full and overflowing._

 _Brian led him over and pulled out a chair for him, waiting for him to sit before going around and taking the seat in front of him._

 _Sonny took the cloth napkin and spread it in his lap, then lifted the silver dome from his plate sitting it to the side. He looked down at the plate expecting to see his favorite chocolate cake on the plate, instead there was a black velvet box holding a silver band adorned with diamond chips._

" _Wha…" he began, then closed his mouth as Brian came around the table and knelt before him._

 _Sonny watched as Brian took his trembling hand in his own. Tears sprang into his eyes unbidden._

" _Sonny, These last several months have been the happiest I have ever had, and I know that we have had some rocky moments, and things have not been perfect, but to be honest, I have fallen so deeply in love with you." Brian began._

" _Brian." Sonny said, putting his hand over Brian's. "I…"_

" _No, please." Brian said. "Let me get this out."_

 _Sonny closed his mouth and nodded, waiting quietly for Brian to go on._

" _I can't imagine my life without you, you are my first thought in the morning, my last thought at night, and when anything remotely exciting happens to me you are the one that I can't wait to share it with." Brian continued._

 _Brian extracted his hands from Sony's and picked up the velvet box with shaky fingers._

" _Will you give me the most extraordinary gift of forever with you? Sonny will you marry me?" Brian finished._

 _The tears were free flowing now coursing in rivers down Sony's face, there didn't seem to be anyway to turn the water works off._

 _Brian remained kneeling in front of Sonny, holding his breath. It couldn't have been more than a couple minutes but it felt like an eternity. Sonny remained quiet._

" _Sonny." Brian said softly, his fingers squeezing his Sonny's._

 _Sonny looked at Brian, "Of course… yes…." Sonny said. "I love you." he said trying to hold his trembling hand steady as Brian slipped the ring on his finger._

Sonny sighed, Brian had loved him unconditionally back then, there had to be a way to get back to that place, to earn Brian's trust again. He wasn't even sure when he had started to lose it. Looking back now he could admit that maybe it was around the time that he had really forgiven Will and allowed Will back into his life. They had fallen back into the very comfortable friendship they had always shared quickly. Brian had been okay with it though…. Or had he? Sonny knew he had never asked. But surely Brian could see how much getting that friendship with Will back had meant to him. Maybe that was the whole problem. But he hadn't wanted to revisit the past with Will, it was just comforting to have his best friend back.

" _So sorry, I am late." Sonny said walking in the door, and dropping his keys on the foyer table. He went straight to the refrigerator and pulled a water from the door, then went and dropped on the couch next to Brian._

" _Did you have a good day?" Brian asked._

" _Yeah, great day actually!" Sonny said._

" _Oh yeah, what made it so great?" Brian asked, sitting the textbook and binder he was working on to the side._

" _Will came by today, haven't seen him in a while and we really talked, like old times." Sonny said. "It was nice."_

" _Oh…" Brian said taken aback. "I didn't realize that you wanted to spend your time with Will again." his voice sounded strained, even to his own ears._

 _Sonny looked at Brian, "I dont." Sonny said. "Not like that, but…"_

" _But what Sonny?" Brian whispered._

" _It's just nice to have my best friend back." Sonny said shrugging his shoulders. "It's really not a big deal, it doesn't change anything with us."_

" _Are you sure?" Brian asked. "I kinda thought I was your best friend…" he let the sentence trail off._

" _Babe…." Sonny said. " You are amazing, and wonderful, and kind, and the best boyfriend I could ever ask for…." he continued. "It's just that Will is important to me, and if I am honest I have felt like something was missing from my life without him."_

" _Sonny, I don't want to sound like a jerk here but I don't …." Brian said._

" _It will be fine, you will see." Sonny interrupted him. "We are just friends, I could never trust him like that again, so you don't have anything to worry about."_

 _Sonny pulled Brian in for a kiss, stretching out. laying back on the couch and urging Brian to follow him. And just like that the topic of Will Horton had been forgotten._

Sonny groaned, Brian had been jealous from the start, but he had thought he was doing a good job of convincing Brian that Will was not changing anything between them. He invited Brian to join them for coffee, to play basketball when they had pick up games, not that he ever joined in, or had time for stuff like that. He had been extra attentive to Brian's needs, had surprised him with lunch at the hospital a few times. Brian had eventually stopped worrying, or so Sonny had thought. He had obviously been wrong. Another memory flowed over him, once they had started it seemed like there was no end.

 _It was late and Brian sat at the table working on his latest assignment, while Sonny sat at on the couch attempting to go over the books for the club, but mostly he was wrapped up in his own thoughts. Brian had been quiet and reserved most of the evening, but Sonny chalked it up to him being worried about finals. It had nothing to do with the fact that he had walked into the club today, just as Will was telling him about Arianna rolling over for the first time by herself. Will had been more excited and happy than Sonny had seen him in months, he had given Will a huge hug, it was so good to see a glimpse of the old Will again... Brian hadn't liked it, Sonny could tell but, it was really innocent. What was his problem anyway?_

 _Honestly, he hasn't really had a romantic thought about Will. Even though he knew for a fact that Will still loved him, It was hard to miss, the way that Will looked at him sometimes, the lingering hugs Will gave him on occasion, and Will's over exuberance to anything Sonny asked him to do. Sonny was aware and always careful to keep the boundaries in place, and even encouraged him to go out and have fun, so what if he cringed inwardly every time Will accepted a date from anyone, it didn't mean anything, not really._

" _So…." Brian said startling Sonny out of his inner monologue. "Will seemed excited today."_

" _Yeah!" Sonny said, he was, "His daughter, Arianna rolled over by herself this morning, he came by to tell me about it, he even had video."_

" _Hmmm, and you were the only person he could think to share that with?" Brian asked._

" _I don't know." Sonny laughed, "He was excited and wanted to tell somebody. She's a cute baby." he said._

" _Where was his family?" Brian asked. "Marlena, Sami, Lucas…. Any of the rest of them, there are more Horton's and Brady's in this town than there are stars in the sky._

" _I don't know, but really what's the big deal, we are friends." Sonny said sighing._

" _I'm just saying there were plenty of other people for him to tell and he chose you. He is still In Love with you Sonny, please tell me you see that." Brian said slamming the book closed in frustration. When Sonny remained silent Brian got up and went over to the couch and sat down beside him. "Seriously Sonny, you do see and understand that he is… right?"_

" _He isn't, and even if he does love me, I don't feel like that towards him anymore, you are the one I want." Sonny said taking Brian's hand in his. "I love you, please trust me. Okay?"_

 _Brian nodded his agreement. "I'm going to take a shower." he said._

" _Want some company?" Sonny asked winking at him._

" _No, it's fine, I am gonna be quick, I have an early morning class tomorrow." Brain said, kissing him quickly before he got up and went into the bathroom closing the door behind him._

That was the last that Brian had mentioned anything until the last few months. Things had been going great for them, they were moving along with the wedding plans and life was good. And then all of the sudden there had been a few off handed comments, a few displays of possessiveness…. but nothing that made Sonny think that Brian was truly bothered. Until Paul had shown up, Paul's arrival in town seemed to have opened up a whole new side of Brian's personality, showcasing his insecurities. It had also scared Sonny into feeling like he was losing his best friend all over again. Suddenly his instinct was to cling tightly to Will, no matter what. Of Course he knew that the easiest way to do that was to give Will what he had been wanting since the day they broke up.

Sonny got up from the chair and paced back to the Window. He had made a mess out of everything. He had been blind to everything, he had hurt Brian in his desperation to hold on to something that wasn't even there anymore. Will had loved him, no question until Paul had come into the picture, but somehow Paul had filled the loneliness inside of Will and brought back the joy that had been missing from his life. He had almost ruined that for Will, right along with his own relationship with Brian. Thankfully, Will had understood it for what it was and Called him on it. Will and Paul would probably have a long and happy relationship, they were well suited to each other.

Now he had to concentrate on getting Brian to forgive him. He picked up his hotel phone and Called for Room service, ordering some of everything on the menu. Then he texted Brian to ask if he would join him for Breakfast in 30 minutes. His mind was still spinning with memories, trying to map out what he wanted to say, what he could possibly say to convince Brian that their relationship deserved one more chance. he was almost at full blown panic mode when Brian finally texted him back "Ok". He dropped his phone on the bed and pulled some clothes out of his suitcase, and hurried to take a shower.


End file.
